The apparent rise in diagnoses is likely caused by growing awareness of the condition among parents and doctors, he and other specialists say.
The study looked at health records of more than 840,000 children, ages 5-11, who met a strict definition for ADHD, as diagnosed by a trained expert. It found that 2.5% of children were diagnosed with ADHD at the start of the study in 2001, vs. 3.1% in 2010.
The percentage diagnosed is lower than in many other studies because of the strict diagnostic criteria and because, unlike other research, the study relied only on health records, not parents‘ reports.
The study, published Monday, was also large enough to break down those diagnosed by gender, race, family income and age. It found that boys were three times more likely to be diagnosed than girls were. That may suggest that boys are more vulnerable to ADHD, as they are to autism, Getahun says.
Moreover, children of higher-income families are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, Getahun says, perhaps because their families are more concerned with their school performance and are more likely to seek a diagnosis.
However, several ADHD experts question the validity of the study, and whether or not the apparent increase in ADHD should be cause for concern.
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