Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan;22(2):182-190.
doi: 10.1177/1087054717698815. Epub 2017 Mar 31.

Prevalence of ADHD in Publicly Insured Adults

Yanmin Zhu  1 , Wei Liu  2 , Yan Li  1 , Xi Wang  1 , Almut G Winterstein  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of ADHD in Publicly Insured Adults

Yanmin Zhu et al. J Atten Disord. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of adult ADHD diagnosis and treatment in U.S. Medicaid beneficiaries.

Method: Using outpatient, inpatient, and pharmacy billing records for patients eligible for Medicaid fee-for-service benefits within 29 states from 1999 to 2010, we estimated the annual prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and treatment.

Results: The prevalence of ADHD diagnosis increased from 2.20 per 1,000 patients in 1999 to 10.57 in 2010. Likewise, prevalence of ADHD treatment increased from 1.95 per 1,000 patients in 1999 to 13.16 in 2010. Between 40% and 65%, patients had ADHD drug prescription fills 6 months after ADHD diagnosis, whereas 45% to 55% of the beneficiaries with an ADHD drug prescription fill had ADHD diagnoses within 6 months before the prescription.

Conclusion: In publicly insured adults, the prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and treatment increased dramatically over the years. Approximately half of the diagnosed patients are not treated, whereas half of the treated adults are not diagnosed.

Keywords: ADHD; central nervous system stimulants; disease prevalence; epidemiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources