Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder/hyperkinetic disorder of pediatric and adult populations in clinical settings: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression

Summary & key facts

This large review combined 311 studies to measure how common ADHD/hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD/HD) is in people seen in clinical mental health settings. The authors found much higher rates in clinics than in the general population. Rates differed by age group, type of clinic, and how ADHD was measured. The review also notes limits such as different methods across studies and that results come from published English-language reports.

Key facts:

• The review included 311 studies with 653,558 pediatric participants and 43,311 adult participants.
• Pooled ADHD/HD prevalence in clinical settings was 32.4% in children (95% CI 31–34%).
• Pooled ADHD/HD prevalence in clinical settings was 21.4% in adults (95% CI 20–23%).
• The authors say ADHD/HD prevalence in clinical populations is about 8–9 times higher than community estimates.
• Prevalence was higher in outpatient clinics than in inpatient settings.
• Studies that used rating scales reported higher ADHD prevalence than studies using diagnostic interviews or chart review.
• No clear change in pooled prevalence was found over time between 1981 and 2023.
• For pediatric samples, geographic region influenced prevalence estimates. For adult samples, larger study sample sizes were linked to lower reported prevalence.

Abstract

ADHD/HD prevalence in clinical populations is 8-9-fold higher than community estimates. With these patients at risk for many adverse outcomes, our findings underscore the critical importance of resource allocation for screening, diagnosing and treatment.

Topics

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Bipolar Disorder and Treatment

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder CINAHL Comorbidity Internal medicine Law Mathematics Medicine MEDLINE Meta-analysis Pediatrics Political science Psychiatry Psychological intervention PsycINFO Sample size determination Statistics

Conditions & symptoms

ADHD Difficulty focusing