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Data suggest increased prevalence of ADHD among children

Despite an apparent increased prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among children, researchers caution professionals and the public alike to understand how the criteria for diagnoses can impact estimates.

“Anecdotally and using data, from physician outpatient registries, the number of children diagnosed with ADHD seems to have increased,” they wrote. “However, contrary to our hypothesis, the estimates of prevalence did not statistically significantly increase over time nor were they statistically significantly different between the various DSM editions.”

The researchers searched Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, and Web of Science for the study, published in Pediatrics.

Of 5,134 unique citations identified, the researchers included 175 eligible studies.

The geographical distribution of studies were predominantly conducted in Europe (31%), and a majority of studies were conducted in schools (74%); and only a few studies were conducted in a population fashion (10%), the researchers wrote.

The overall pooled prevalence of ADHD was 7.2% (95% CI, 6.7-7.8), according to data.

They also considered studies that utilized varying editions of the DSM-III, DSM-III-R, or DSM-IV, but found no statistically significant differences.

Further analyses revealed that the prevalence of ADHD was less significant when studies included use of the DSM-III-R, compared with the DSM-IV (P = .03), according to data.

This was also the case when studies were located in Europe compared with North America (P = .04), they wrote.

“An accurate diagnosis is arguably the single most important thing a clinician can do for a patient, and our estimates may help to better establish population-based benchmarks for clinicians to consider,” they wrote. – by Samantha Costa

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.