Significant rise in ADHD diagnoses in the UK

Both ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions for ADHD medication have increased significantly over the past two decades, except in children under five, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in BJPsych Open, reviewed data from 7 million individuals aged three to 99, from IQVIA Medical Research Data, a UK primary care database, between 2000 and 2018. Of these individuals, 35,877 had an ADHD diagnosis and 18,518 received prescriptions for ADHD medication from their GP. Although the number of individuals receiving medication for ADHD is still relatively low, the researchers found that ADHD was more commonly diagnosed in children than in adults, and was more common in boys and men than girls and women. The findings showed that, in absolute terms, the increase was highest in children: amongst boys aged 10-16 years, 1.4% had an ADHD diagnosis and 0.6% had been prescribed ADHD medication in 2000, rising to 3.5% and 2.4% respectively in 2018. But the relative increase was largest among adults. For example, over that time, there was approximately a twenty-fold increase in ADHD diagnoses and nearly fifty-fold in ADHD prescriptions in men between the ages of 18-29 (from 0.01% to 0.