Reuters (12/9, Rapaport) reports that approximately 5.8 million US youngsters have received a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), according to a study published online Dec. 8 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
The Washington Post (12/9, Cha) reports in “To Your Health” that the study “shows a surprising 55 percent increase in prevalence of diagnoses among girls – from 4.7 percent to 7.3 percent from 2003 to 2011.” During that same time period, investigators “found an increase in cases across all races and ethnicities but especially in Hispanic children.”
HealthDay (12/9) reports that “in 2011, an estimated 12 percent of US kids aged 5 to 17 had ever been diagnosed with AD/HD,” the study found, an increase of “43 percent from 2003.”
Related Links:
— “Sharp rise in ADHD diagnoses in girls challenges myth that the condition is mostly a boy thing,” Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post, December 9, 2015.