CINCINNATI -- Almost 9% of U.S. children ages 8 to 15 meet standard diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but less than half of them receive treatment.
MedPage Today Action Points
- Explain to interested parents that this study suggests that less than half of the 2.4 million children ages 8 to 15 who meet standard diagnostic criteria for ADHD receive treatment.
- Note that there are also ADHD prevalence discrepancies between racial and ethnic groups and according to socioeconomic status.
CINCINNATI, Sept.4 -- Almost 9% of U.S. children ages 8 to 15 meet standard diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but less than half of them receive treatment.
Only 47.9% of the 2.4 million who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria for ADHD had reportedly had their conditions diagnosed by a health care professional or been treated with medication, according to a report in the September issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
A research team led by Tanya E. Froehlich, M.D., of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center did a cross-sectional phone survey of the parents or caregivers of 3,082 eight- to 15-year old children who were participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Survey respondents provided information about each child's ADHD symptoms between 2001 and 2004. They also provided sociodemographic information and information about whether the child had ever been diagnosed with ADHD or taken medicine to treat the disorder.
