Study Shows ADHD Underdiagnosed and Undertreated
A new study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center reveals that most U.S. children who meet the medically accepted definition of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have not been diagnosed by a physician and are not consistently treated with medications.
The study, published in the September 3 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that 8.7 percent of children in the United States between the ages of 8 and 15 years, or approximately 2.4 million children, meet validated ADHD diagnostic criteria. However, more than half have not been diagnosed and about two-thirds are not receiving consistent treatment with ADHD medications.
The study is the first to use a validated national database, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the first to use ADHD criteria based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, better known as DSM-IV. This is considered to be the "gold standard" for defining specific mental health conditions.
"This national study is among the most rigorous yet conducted on the U.S. prevalence of childhood ADHD and the first time we've been able to estimate nationwide treatment rates in those children who meet strict criteria for the disorder," says Tanya Froehlich, MD, an instructor in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's, and the study's lead author.
"Our study was not designed to determine what percentage of U.S. children are overdiagnosed and overmedicated for ADHD, which is a clear public concern," explains Dr. Froehlich. "What the study does show, however, is that among children suffering from the disorder, the opposite – which is underdiagnosis and undertreatment - appears to be occurring."
The Cincinnati Children's researchers examined NHANES data on 3,082 children gathered between 2001 and 2004.
