The global prevalence of ADHD in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Summary & key facts

The authors pooled results from 61 cross-sectional studies to estimate how common ADHD is in children and adolescents worldwide. They found a pooled prevalence of 7.6% (95% CI 6.1–9.4%) in children aged 3–12 (from 96,907 children) and 5.6% (95% CI 4.8–7%) in adolescents aged 12–18. Prevalence estimates varied by age and by the diagnostic rules used, with studies using DSM-5 giving higher rates than older criteria. The authors used standard meta-analysis methods and noted differences between studies as a source of uncertainty in the estimates.

Key facts:

• The review included 61 cross-sectional studies in total.
• Fifty-three studies supplied data used to estimate ADHD prevalence in children.
• Across 96,907 children aged 3–12 years, the pooled ADHD prevalence was 7.6% (95% CI 6.1–9.4%).
• Among adolescents aged 12–18 years, the pooled ADHD prevalence was 5.6% (95% CI 4.8–7%).
• Studies that used DSM-5 diagnostic criteria reported higher ADHD prevalence than studies using earlier criteria (DSM-IV, DSM-IV-TR, ICD-10).
• The authors searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect up to October 2020 and followed PRISMA guidelines for the review.
• The paper notes that differences in diagnostic criteria, age groups, and study methods caused inconsistency across studies, which adds uncertainty to the pooled estimates.

Topics

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children's Physical and Motor Development

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Clinical psychology Internal medicine Law Medicine MEDLINE Meta-analysis Political science Psychiatry Psychology Systematic review