Diagnoses of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have surged in the United States over the last several years, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study, which examined data from more than 45,000 parent responses to the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), found that in 2022, 7 million children between ages 3 and 17 had previously been diagnosed with ADHD, an increase of 1 million from 2016.
This equates to about 1 in 9 U.S. children being diagnosed with ADHD at some point in their lives. Additionally, 10.5% of children, or 6.5 million, were found to have current ADHD in 2022.
Despite behavior therapy often recommended alone or as adjunct to medications, only about half of children with current ADHD, 53.6%, had used medication and 44.4% had received behavioral therapy in the last year, according to parent responses.
Nearly one-third of children, 30.1%, did not receive any ADHD-specific treatment, the study found.
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There are a few reasons for why diagnoses might have increased, according to the authors. Firstly, because public awareness of ADHD has changed over time, more children may be getting correctly diagnosed with ADHD. Secondly, there may be less stigma around receiving treatment for ADHD.
Lastly, the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role, with poor mental health during the pandemic possibly exacerbating ADHD symptoms for many children, the authors said.
