Prevalence of Psychiatric Comorbidities in Patients With Neurofibromatosis

Objective: To assess the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in patients with neurofibromatosis. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used the 2010–2014 National Inpatient Sample database. Patients ≥ 18 years of age with a primary or secondary diagnosis of neurofibromatosis and psychiatric comorbidities were queried. Results: A total of 43,270 patients with a mean age of 48.7 years (female: 55.7%, White: 70.1%) were included in the study. Overall, psychiatric comorbidities were present in 46.5% of patients; mood disorders (22.1%) and anxiety disorders (12.2%) were the most prevalent comorbidities. Although previous studies report prevalence rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in up to 50% of patients with neurofibromatosis, our study found that the rate was much lower at 1.10%. Female sex and non-White race were less associated with psychiatric comorbidities (odds ratio = 0.868 [P = .003] and 0.689 [P < .001], respectively). The moderate-to-extreme loss of function illness severity category was associated with 1.35-times higher odds of having psychiatric comorbidities compared to mild-to-moderate or no loss of function (P < .001). The total length of stay was similar in patients with and without psychiatric comorbidities (mean = 4.98 [95% CI, 4.72–5.24] vs mean = 4.83 [95% CI, 4.60–5.07], respectively; P = .34). Conclusions: In adult patients with neurofibromatosis, 46.5% were found to have at least one psychiatric comorbid diagnosis. The most frequent psychiatric comorbid disorders were mood disorders and anxiety disorders. Female sex and non-White race predicted a lower likelihood of having a psychiatric disorder.