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Statistical Prevalence

General Prevalence of AD/HD in Children and Adolescents in the United States:

There are several sources for information on the statistical prevalence of AD/HD among school-age children. These include:

1.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publication Vital and Health Statistics (PDF; September 2007). Some of the findings in this publication include:

  • There are 4.5 million children ages 3 to 17 (7% of this age group) with AD/HD.
  • Boys are more than twice as likely to have AD/HD, with 11% of boys in this age range having the disorder and 4% of girls.
  • When compared with children who have excellent or very good health, children who have fair or poor health status are nearly 3 times more likely to have AD/HD (7% vs. 19%).

2.  CDC publication Vital and Health Statistics (PDF; July 2008) reports that the incidence of AD/HD diagnoses increased an average of 3% annually between 1997 and 2006.

3.  The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) periodically publishes The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. The 2001 version of this publication states: "ADHD, one of the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents, affects an estimated 4.1 % of youths ages 9 to 17 in a 6-month period." The 2008 edition states: "The median age of onset of AD/HD is 7 years..."

4.  Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA; January 2001) and Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (March 2002) cite Mayo Clinic studies that use 7.5%.

5.  Report of the U.S. Surgeon General on Mental Health (1999) states that 3 to 5% of school-age children have AD/HD. Based on the January 2001 General Accounting Office (GAO) report stating that there are 46.6 million public school students, this would mean there are at least between 1.398 million (3%) and 2.330 million (5%) school-age children with AD/HD (cf. 1999 Report of the Surgeon General, chapter 3 [PDF])

6.  CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR, Sept. 2, 2005) reports:

  • Between 3 and 7% of school-age children have AD/HD.
  • Prevalence rates vary between states, with Colorado having the lowest rate at 5% and Alabama having the highest rate of 11.1%.
  • 2.5 million children between the ages of 4 and 17 (56% of those diagnosed) received medication treatment for AD/HD as of 2003.
  • Children between the ages of 9 and 12 showed the highest prevalence of medication treatment for AD/HD as of 2003.

7. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer Data and Statistics on AD/HD through the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

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AD/HD Prevalence Breakdowns for Children Between Ages 3 - 17:

These data are taken from CDC's Vital and Health Statistics (September 2007).

By Age:

  • 2.05 million children between the ages of 5 to 11 have AD/HD (7.4%)
  • 2.4 million children between the ages of 12 to 17 have AD/HD (9.7%)

By Ethnic Background:

  • White: 3.6 million children have AD/HD (7.6%)
  • Black or African American: 705,000 children have AD/HD (7.4%)
  • Hispanic or Latino: 602,000 children have AD/HD (5.1%)

By Family Structure:

  • Mother and father: 2.5 Million children have AD/HD (5.9 %)
  • Mother, no father: 1.6 Million children have AD/HD (11.1 %)
  • Father, no mother: 226,000 children have AD/HD (8.6 %)
  • Neither mother nor father: 219,000 children have AD/HD (10.7 %)

Breakdown on co-occurring conditions:

These are data on the most common co-occurring conditions as reported in ADHD characteristics: I. Concurrent co-morbidity patterns in children & adolescents, (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, July 2008).

  • The most prevalent co-occurring disorder with AD/HD is Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), appearing 40.6 % of the time.
  • Minor Depression/Dysthymia (MDDD) was second, with a rate of 21.6%.
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) was third, appearing 15.2% of the time.

Breakdown of co-occurring conditions by AD/HD subtype:

In predominantly inattentive subtype:

  • 20.8% had MDDD.
  • 20.8% ODD.
  • 18.6% GAD.

In predominantly hyperactive-impulsive subtype:

  • 41.9% had ODD.
  • 22.2% GAD.
  • 19.4% MDDD.

In combined subtype:

  • 50.7% had ODD.
  • 22.7% MDDD.
  • 12.4% GAD.

Breakdown by AD/HD subtype:

This data were reported in Prevalence, Recognition, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a National Sample of US Children, (Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, September 2007).

  • Total Sample:  3082
  • AD/HD all types:  222
  • Inattentive subtype:  95
  • Combined type:  72
  • Hyperactive-Impulsive type:  55

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General Prevalence of AD/HD in Adults in the United States:

  1. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), (American Journal of Psychiatry, April 2006). This study estimated that 4.4% of adults between ages 18 and 44 experience some symptoms and disabilities from AD/HD.
  2. CNS Spectrum: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine (August 2008) features an expert roundtable supplement titled Best Practices in Adult ADHD: Epidemiology, Impairments, and Differential Diagnosis. This publication states that about 4% of the adult population in the U.S. has AD/HD.   

Last Updated September, 2009

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