WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have surged in the past several years, affecting one in nine children in the U.S.
ADHD is a condition where a child may often daydream, forget or lose things, talk a lot, squirm or fidget, have difficulty getting along with others, have trouble taking turns, and make careless mistakes, the CDC stated.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 45,000 parent responses from the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health, which measured the prevalence of ADHD diagnoses in 7 million children aged 3 to 17.
'Pediatric ADHD remains an ongoing and expanding public health concern, as approximately one million more children had ever received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022 than in 2016,' the researchers found.
The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, revealed that around 11.4 percent of children in the U.S. have received an ADHD diagnosis at some point, while 10.5 percent or 6.5 million children are currently affected by the disorder, out of which more than 58 percent have moderate or severe ADHD, and around 78 percent have at least one other disorder.
Among the children diagnosed with ADHD, nearly half of the children are undergoing treatment whereas around one-third of children had not received any kind of treatment or medication yet, the study also found.
Researchers noted that the prevalence of ADHD was 'more common in boys, children living in lower-income households, children with public health insurance, and children living in rural areas.'
The health agency further advised the parents to talk to healthcare providers to discuss if their child has ADHD and seek help as there is no specific test to diagnose the condition.
Notably, the authors found that the surge in ADHD diagnosis in recent years was due to increased public awareness and less stigma around receiving treatment.
Researchers concluded the study by hoping that it would help 'policymakers, government agencies, health care systems, public health practitioners, and other partners to plan for the needs of children with ADHD, such as by ensuring access to care and services for ADHD.'
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