The descriptive epidemiology of DSM-IV Adult ADHD in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys

Abstract

We previously reported on the cross-national epidemiology of ADHD from the first 10 countries in the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. The current report expands those previous findings to the 20 nationally or regionally representative WMH surveys that have now collected data on adult ADHD. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was administered to 26,744 respondents in these surveys in high-, upper-middle-, and low-/lower-middle-income countries (68.5% mean response rate). Current DSM-IV/CIDI adult ADHD prevalence averaged 2.8% across surveys and was higher in high (3.6%)- and upper-middle (3.0%)- than low-/lower-middle (1.4%)-income countries. Conditional prevalence of current ADHD averaged 57.0% among childhood cases and 41.1% among childhood subthreshold cases. Adult ADHD was significantly related to being male, previously married, and low education. Adult ADHD was highly comorbid with DSM-IV/CIDI anxiety, mood, behavior, and substance disorders and significantly associated with role impairments (days out of role, impaired cognition, and social interactions) when controlling for comorbidities. Treatment seeking was low in all countries and targeted largely to comorbid conditions rather than to ADHD. These results show that adult ADHD is prevalent, seriously impairing, and highly comorbid but vastly under-recognized and undertreated across countries and cultures.

A Review on the Role of Inflammation in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Accordingly, a meta-analysis has shown a prevalence of about 2.4% in adulthood [5]. Concurring with those results, a recent study conducted by the World Health Organization has found a prevalence of 2.5% in adults in the 30 countries evaluated [6].…”

Association Between Medication Use and Performance on Higher Education Entrance Tests in Individuals With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…1 It affects approximately 5-7% of the school-aged population, [2][3][4] and slightly under 3% in adults. [5][6][7] On average, individuals with ADHD earn lower school grades or standardized test scores, and they receive less schooling, compared with peers. [8][9][10] The core symptoms of ADHD, including inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, may affect school performance; associated deficits, such as in attention span and working memory, may exacerbate academic difficulties.…”

Adverse drug event‐related hospitalisation in persons with neurodevelopmental disorders: a state‐wide retrospective cohort study

“…; Duchan & Patel ; Fayyad et al . ), e.g., the observed overrepresentation of socio‐economic disadvantage in PwNDD. Hence, improved healthcare services addressing the social and environmental determinants of their medication safety may have the potential to reduce the burden of ADEs.…”