CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) funded one of the largest community-based, epidemiologic studies of ADHD in the United States to enhance our understanding of ADHD in children and to make the most informed decisions and recommendations about potential public health prevention and intervention strategies.
To that end, researchers from the CDC, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and the University of South Carolina recently used data from the multisite Project to Learn about ADHD in Youth (PLAY) to examine the prevalence and treatment of ADHD in two communities. The results were published in the Journal of Attention Disorders1. You can read the article here. The findings from this article are summarized in the following text.
This important article from the PLAY study presents information about the rates of ADHD and treatment for ADHD in two diverse communities in South Carolina and Oklahoma. Teachers from four school districts in the two states screened over 10,000 elementary school-aged children for ADHD. Ultimately, 855 families participated in an interview that used a single, rigorous DSM-IV-based case definition to identify children who met the study’s ADHD case definition at the time of the interview.
These findings highlight the need for consistent application of DSM-IV ADHD criteria when assessing a child for ADHD. Parents and health care practitioners, together, should also revisit treatment plans regularly to make sure they are appropriate.
ADHD is the most common neurobehavioral disorder of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. ADHD causes problems in how well children do in school, in their ability to make and keep friends, and in their ability to function in society.
A previous national survey of parents found that 7.2% of school-aged children in the U.S. (4.1 million children) had a current ADHD diagnosis in 2007, and rates have increased throughout the past decade2,3. Community-based studies, such as PLAY, are an important complement to analyses of parent-reported survey data, as they allow for the assessment of ADHD regardless of a child’s access to care.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently revised clinical practice guidelines that provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of children with ADHD4. In most cases, ADHD is best treated with a combination of medication and behavior therapy. No single treatment is the answer for every child and good treatment plans will include close monitoring, follow-up, and take into account any changes needed along the way.
CDC funds epidemiological studies of the ADHD Project to Learn About ADHD in Youth (PLAY) in two community sites: one school district in Columbia, South Carolina, and five school districts in Oklahoma. The goal of this study is to further the understanding of the prevalence, risk behaviors, and impact of ADHD, and to develop better prevention and intervention strategies to improve the health and long-term outcomes of children with ADHD.
CDC also supports the National Resource Center on ADHD, a program of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), which is a Public Health Practice and Resource Center. Their web site has links to evidence-based information for people with ADHD and their families. The National Resource Center operates a call center with trained, bilingual staff to answer questions about ADHD. The number is 1-800-233-4050.
CDC monitors the prevalence of disruptive behavioral disorders and ADHD, in particular, through the use of national survey data. The estimates that result from these monitoring activities have been used to assess the impact of the disorder over time and have been used to inform investigations of adverse events among children medicated for ADHD.
To learn more about ADHD and CDC’s work in the area of ADHD, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/
Public Domain. Â Original Posting From:Â http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/features/adhd-key-findings-play.html
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