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news.In contrast to claims that children are being overmedicated for ADHD, a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine has found that a high percentage of kids with the condition are not receiving treatment. In fact, the researchers claim that almost half of the children who might benefit from ADHD drugs were not receiving them.
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Much has been written about the increasing number of children taking drugs for ADHD. One study found that the percentage of elementary school children taking medication for ADHD more than tripled, rising from 0.6% in 1975 to 3% by 1987. Another study reported that the number of adolescents taking ADHD drugs increased 2.5-fold between 1990 and 1995.
However, according to Dr Richard Todd, the Blanche F Ittleson professor of psychiatry and professor of genetics, his researchers made a “surprising” discovery, finding that “only about 58% of boys and about 45% of girls who had a diagnosis of full-scale ADHD got any medication at all.”
The researchers studied 1,610 twins between the ages of 7 and 17. Of those, 359 met full criteria for ADHD: 302 boys and 57 girls. The total number of boys in the sample was 1,006, and 604 girls were included.
Dr Todd said that among the 1,251 kids in the study who did not have ADHD, some did take stimulant medications, but it was a very small percentage, only 3.6% of the boys and 2.6% of the girls.
He says, however, that in many cases, there’s an understandable reason those children have sought treatment. The study found that most of the children without ADHD who took medication did have some symptoms of ADHD – some hyperactivity or problems with inattention – but not enough symptoms to meet formal diagnostic criteria as defined by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). The study also found that most of the kids who took medication without an ADHD diagnosis had a twin who did have the disorder.
Dr Todd believes that, as genes are identified, it may become possible to intervene in new ways – with psychotherapies, environmental interventions or medications that affect biological pathways that haven’t yet been identified. But he says a potential stumbling block in the future, as now, will involve getting children into treatment.
“That’s especially true for girls because for whatever reason, less than half of the girls who had ADHD in this sample ever received treatment,” he said. “As genes are discovered and treatments developed, they won’t be able to solve problems unless they are used.”