Cited by 1,263Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentHealth and Medical Studies

Trends in the Parent-Report of Health Care Provider-Diagnosed and Medicated Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: United States, 2003–2011

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Visser, Susanna N., Danielson, Melissa L., Bitsko, Rebecca H., Holbrook, Joseph R., Kogan, Michael D., Ghandour, Reem M., Perou, Ruth, Blumberg, Stephen J.·2014·Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Abstract

Objective Data from the 2003 and 2007 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) reflect the increasing prevalence of parent-reported attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and treatment by health care providers. This report updates these prevalence estimates for 2011 and describes temporal trends.Method Weighted analyses were conducted with 2011 NSCH data to estimate prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis, current ADHD, current medication treatment, ADHD severity, and mean age of diagnosis for U.S. children/adolescents aged 4 to 17 years and among demographic subgroups. A history of ADHD diagnosis (2003-2011), as well as current ADHD and medication treatment prevalence (2007-2011), were compared using prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals.Results In 2011, 11% of children/adolescents aged 4 to 17 years had ever received an ADHD diagnosis (6.4 million children). Among those with a history of ADHD diagnosis, 83% were reported as currently having ADHD (8.8%); 69% of children with current ADHD were taking medication for ADHD (6.1%, 3.5 million children). A parent-reported history of ADHD increased by 42% from 2003 to 2011. Prevalence of a history of ADHD, current ADHD, medicated ADHD, and moderate/severe ADHD increased significantly from 2007 estimates. Prevalence of medicated ADHD increased by 28% from 2007 to 2011.Conclusions Approximately 2 million more U.S. children/adolescents aged 4 to 17 years had been diagnosed with ADHD in 2011, compared to 2003. More than two-thirds of those with current ADHD were taking medication for treatment in 2011. This suggests an increasing burden of ADHD on the U.S. health care system. Efforts to further understand ADHD diagnostic and treatment patterns are warranted.

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  • Although the true prevalence of ADHD does not vary with ethnicity, some studies have inconsistently associated ethnicity with ADHD owing to referral patterns and barriers to care that disproportionately affect particular ethnic groups.

    “Finally, although the true prevalence of ADHD does not vary with ethnicity, some studies have inconsistently associated ethnicity with ADHD owing to referral patterns and barriers to care that disproportionately affect particular ethnic groups 17-19 .”

    From Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (2015) · cites this paper as [18]

    The Results section (2011 demographic patterns; page not provided) reports differences in parent-reported ADHD diagnosis by race and ethnicity, including a lower rate among Hispanic than non-Hispanic children. The Discussion says these data cannot establish changes in underlying ADHD prevalence. It does not establish equal true prevalence across ethnic groups or attribute the diagnostic differences to referral patterns or group-specific barriers to care. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [14]Charach A Dashti B Carson P Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Effectiveness of Treatment in At-Risk Preschoolers; Long-Term Effectiveness in All Ages; and Variability in Prevalence, Diagnosis, and Treatment Rockville, MD Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 10 2011 22191110
  2. [23]Blumberg SJ Foster EB Frasier AM Design and operation of the National Survey of Children’s Health, 2007 National Center for Health Statistics 2009 22834229

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Authors
Visser, S. N., Danielson, M. L., Bitsko, R. H., Holbrook, J. R., Kogan, M. D., Ghandour, R. M., Perou, R., & Blumberg, S. J.
Affiliations
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
  • Health Resources and Services Administration (US)
  • National Center for Health Statistics (US)
Corresponding author
Visser, Susanna N.
Venue
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-01
Volume
53
Issue
1
Pages
34-46.e2
ISSN
0890-8567 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2007817385
Cited by
1,263
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 39 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 92 · 2021: 84 · 2020: 105 · 2019: 89 · 2018: 130 · 2017: 181 · 2016: 125 · 2015: 128 · 2014: 80 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
FWCI
79.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (CC999999)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Health Resources and Services Administration
  • National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
  • Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Studies
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD prevalence, temporal trends, ADHD symptom severity, children and adolescents, National Survey of Children's Health, diagnostic patterns
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Child, Preschool, Health Surveys, Humans, United States, Prevalence

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