Here are five findings to note:
- Around 1 in 9 children, 11.4%, in the U.S. have ever received an ADHD diagnosis, and 1 in 10, 10.5%, have current ADHD. These numbers are up from 2016, when 9.9% of children had ever been diagnosed with the disorder.
- The ratio of boys to girls diagnosed with ADHD shrunk in 2022 to 1.8:1, down from more than 2:1 in 2016.
- More than half of children aged 3-17 diagnosed with ADHD were currently taking ADHD medication in 2022. Around 4 in 10 received behavioral treatment for the disorder in the past year. The number of children with ADHD receiving behavioral medication declined from 62.0% in 2016 to 53.6% in 2022. Nearly one-third of children with ADHD did not receive any treatment.
- Among all children with ADHD, 41.9% had mild ADHD, 45.3% had moderate ADHD, and 12.8% had severe ADHD.
- Increasing rates of ADHD diagnoses could be due to generally increasing awareness of ADHD and pursuit of care, CDC researchers wrote. The increase could also reflect an increase in pandemic-associated stressors, worsening symptoms of ADHD. Pediatric ADHD remains an “ongoing and expanding public health concern,” the researchers concluded.
Read the full report here.