Young people with ADHD are more likely to visit youth clinics than their peers, while autistic individuals are less likely to do so. This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Autism Research. The results also suggest that digital healthcare consultations could help reduce these disparities.
The study covered over 450,000 young people aged 12-22 in Stockholm County. The researchers examined their use of sexual and reproductive healthcare at youth clinics between 2018 and 2022. In total, nearly 500,000 visits were recorded, over 90 per cent of which took place in person at the clinics.
People with ADHD benefit from youth clinics
The results show clear differences between different groups. Young people with ADHD used healthcare services at youth clinics to a greater extent than their peers without a diagnosis. For example, about half of girls and young women with ADHD had attended an in-person visit, compared with around one-third of their peers without a diagnosis. In contrast, lower levels of use were observed among autistic youth, particularly among young men, whose likelihood of seeking in-person care was approximately half that of their peers without autism.
Among young women with ADHD, contraception use was also higher, including long-acting reversible contraceptive methods such as the coil/IUD and the contraceptive implant.
"Previous research shows that young people with ADHD, as a group, may engage in riskier sexual behaviour," says Lovisa Hellsten , PhD student at the Department of Global Public Health , Karolinska Institutet. "It is therefore encouraging to see that they are making use of the preventive and health-promoting care offered by youth clinics."
Digital care may reduce barriers
According to Lovisa Hellsten, differences in sexual behaviour are likely to explain some of the results, but it may also be the case that some people refrain from seeking care.
"An interesting finding was that the differences between the groups were smaller when it came to digital care, such as chat and video consultations," she says. "This may suggest that such channels of contact lower the threshold for certain groups, such as autistic youth."
The study also shows that young autistic women who had made an initial visit used healthcare services to roughly the same extent as their peers without a diagnosis.
"This indicates that taking that first step to make contact can be a significant barrier," says Lovisa Hellsten. "We hope that the results will contribute to better healthcare planning so that more young people will receive the right support."
The study is based on register data, which makes it possible to see who has had contact with healthcare services, but not exactly why they sought care or which needs went unmet. Furthermore, the results relate to a period when digital healthcare was still in its early stages, which may affect how they should be interpreted today.
The study is part of a larger research project evaluating the digitalisation of youth clinics and was carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine (CES), Region Stockholm. It was funded by the Swedish Research Council and Region Stockholm. The researchers report no conflicts of interest.
Publication
"Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Among Youth With Autism and ADHD: A Population-Based Study from Sweden" , Lovisa Hellsten, Jessica Rast, Anna Nielsen, Anna Mia Ekström, Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson, Kyriaki Kosidou, Viktor H. Ahlqvist, Autism Research, online July 29, 2026, doi: 10.1002/aur.70306.
