Of 10 million US adults with ADHD, 90% are undiagnosed. Primary care professionals are in the best position to screen for and diagnose ADHD, which usually presents as depression, anxiety, substance use, and a more chaotic lifestyle. It is important for PCP’s to know how to screen for and diagnose ADHD thoroughly before recommending treatment.
There is a well-documented gap between the known prevalence of adult ADHD and rates of diagnosis and treatment. In Germany, epidemiological studies of nationally representative community samples have found prevalence rates ranging from 3.1% to 4.7%. Yet studies of publicly insured individuals age 18 to 69 years old report rates of diagnosed ADHD between 0.04% …
Addressing the Challenge of Under-Diagnosed Adult ADHD Read More »
The study team began with a representative sample of 69,972 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older who completed the 2012 and 2013 U.S. National Health and Wellness Survey. These adults were invited to complete the Validate Attitudes and Lifestyle Issues in Depression, ADHD and Troubles with Eating (VALIDATE) study, which included 1) a customized …
How do undiagnosed but symptomatic adults compare with those diagnosed with ADHD? Read More »
Michael J. Silverstein , Stephen V. Faraone, Terry L. Leon, Joseph Biederman, Thomas J. Spencer, and Lenard A. Adler Journal of Attention Disorders. 1–11: 2018. DOI: 10.1177/1087054718804347 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) (DSM-5) still defines ADHD symptoms in terms nine inattentive (IA) and nine hyperactive-impulsive (H-I) symptoms, to form the …
The Relationship Between Executive Function Deficits and DSM-5-Defined ADHD Symptoms Read More »
Ustun et al. (2017) recently published an updated version of the adult ADHD screener which is validated for DSM-5: the ASRS v1.1 Screener: DSM-5. The prior DSM-IV version of the screener was established using two populations: a community-based sample from the National Co-Morbidity Survey (NCS-R) and a sample of individuals from a health care plan. …
ADHD is a difficult diagnosis to make, although there are several means for gathering the essential developmental and clinical data with which practicing clinician can make an accurate diagnosis. These include various symptom checklists, adult ADHD and executive functioning inventories, and structured interviews that target ADHD and diagnostic criteria, including onset, course, and impairment. However, …