ADHD Diagnoses Rise 66 Percent Over 10-Year Period

In 2010, 10.4 million children and adolescents were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during an outpatient visit, a substantial jump from the 6.2 million ADHD diagnoses made in 2000. These data come from a new study published in the March/April Academic Pediatrics. For the study, Craig Garfield, M.D., of Northwestern University led a team of researchers in reviewing ADHD diagnosis and treatment data from the IMS Health National Disease and Therapeutic Index. The rise in ADHD diagnoses has been accompanied by an increase in the treatment of these patients by specialists, such as child psychiatrists, rather than primary care physicians, the researchers found. Garfield noted in an interview with HealthDay that the surge in ADHD diagnoses may be attributable to increased public awareness and media coverage of the disorder and to pharmaceutical companies advertising products to treat ADHD. Read more about the increasing number of ADHD diagnoses in Psychiatric News.

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