ADHD diagnoses in children and adults are on the rise

Disrupted brain development

06. May 2024 4:07 p.m. Robert Klatt

Increased awareness among doctors and patients is leading to a significant increase in ADHD diagnoses in children and adults. However, the number of unreported cases remains high.

London, England). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manifests itself with symptoms such as poor attention, high impulsivity, poor self-regulation, and, in some people, severe physical agitation (hyperactivity). Medicine has long described ADHD as a behavioral problem with no physical origin. However, it is now known that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a complex developmental delay in the self-management center of the brain.

The disease is diagnosed about four times more often in boys than in girls. Parents who suspect their children have neurodevelopmental disorders often use one for diagnosis. ADHD test. However, doctors explain that the results of these online tests are not always correct and must be checked by a specialist.

Increase in ADHD diagnoses

According to ADHD Germany e. According to current prevalence estimates, approximately five percent of children and adolescents aged 3 to 17 have ADHD. However, different studies show that the number of ADHD diagnoses is increasing significantly in both children and adults.

Researchers have conducted one of the largest studies to date on the diagnosis of ADHD. University College London (UCL) around Dr. Doug McKechnie created. According to their publication in the specialized magazine BJPsych Open The scientists analyzed the health data of seven million people aged three to 99 from the IQVIA Medical Research database for the period between 2000 and 2018. 35,877 people (0.51%) had received a diagnosed with ADHD and 18,518 people (0.26%) were taking prescription medications for ADHD.

Frequency of ADHD in Children and Adults

Although the proportion of people diagnosed with ADHD is relatively small, the health data analyzed clearly show that ADHD was diagnosed more often in children than in adults, and more often in boys and men than in girls and women. The highest proportion of ADHD diagnoses (1.4%) and ADHD medication use (0.6%) in 2000 were among boys ages 10 to 16. In 2018, the shares were already significantly higher, at 3.5 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.

“ADHD diagnoses and ADHD medication prescriptions by a primary care physician have become more common over time. Although ADHD is more likely to be diagnosed in childhood, a growing number of people are first diagnosed as adults. We don’t know exactly why this happens, but it could be that ADHD is better recognized and diagnosed.

However, the relative increase in ADHD diagnoses was highest among adults. During the period examined, the proportion of ADHD diagnoses among men aged 18 to 29 increased from 0.01 percent to 0.56 percent.

Data on ADHD diagnoses in Germany

A national evaluation of health insurance data for the period 2009 to 2014 shows a similar development in Germany. The frequency of ADHD diagnoses among people under the age of 18 increased from 5.0 percent to 6.1 percent during this period. The proportion was highest among 9-year-old boys (13.9 percent) and lowest among 18- to 69-year-olds (0.4 percent). Furthermore, the prescription of ADHD medications among adults increased in Germany, while it decreased among children despite the higher number of diagnoses.

According to the researchers, the frequency of ADHD diagnoses in adults is still significantly lower than the prevalence determined in epidemiological studies. There is therefore still a high “unknown number” of undiagnosed cases of ADHD in adults, which has not yet been recognized despite increased awareness among patients and doctors.

BJPsych Open, doi: 10.1192/bjo.2023.512