ADHD: Prevalence Doubles Over Past Decades - Essay Sample

Introduction

Attention Hyperactivity Disorder, known as ADHD, is a condition that involves difficulty in concentration, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. It begins from childhood and may persist into adulthood, affecting the self-esteem, relationships, and difficulty in the schoolwork. ADHD cases have almost doubled over the past decades. According to the study by the JAMA Network Open, more than 10 percent of the children in the U.S. have the condition (Costill, 2016). The prevalence of the state has been found to increase with age, gender, ethnicity, geography, and income. Hispanic children are at a higher risk than black children. The increased cases have been caused by a lack of structure in the children's lives that are coupled up by bad sleeping habits. Parents continually use Melatonin to help the children in sleeping. There are also increased cases of prenatal smoking and drug abuse, which contribute to the condition. This paper focuses on discussing the increase in ADHD diagnosis.

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Identifying the Subject

There have been increased cases in ADHD diagnosis. The condition causes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsive behaviors. The symptoms include being easily distracted, having trouble concentrating on tasks, being fidgety, and being forgetful. Research shows that making the diagnoses entails the doctor evaluating the symptoms that a child might have for the past six months (Costill, 2016). The doctors also gather information from the teachers or family members while using checklists to review the symptoms.

Over the past two decades, the prevalence of the condition has grown rapidly in the U.S. children and adolescents. The estimated increase in children and adolescents has grown from 6.1 percent to 10.7 percent (Costill, 2016). The rise is also more in the minority groups suggesting that access to mental health treatment and insurance may have played some role in the increase. The rate of diagnosis also doubles for girls while it is lower for boys. The United States has more cases of the condition than the other developed countries.

Explaining the Subject

Research shows that there have been rising cases of ADHD from 1997 to the current year. Age, sex, race, family income, and geographic location influence the diagnoses. There has been an expanded medical education effort about the condition that has enhanced their sensitivity to its diagnosis. Research also shows that changes in the diagnostic criteria have contributed to the condition (Jaffee, 2019). There is also increased public awareness, enhanced access to the health services, and the referral from the primary care, which has increased the screening and diagnosis of the condition. For example, past studies suggest that there are increased cases of diagnosis in the Black peoples and the Hispanic youths due to the improved access to health care. There have also been better ways to diagnose the disorder.

Moreover, the genetic component of the condition has contributed to the increased cases of ADHD as it has a heritability of 70 percent to 80 percent. There is also a lack of structure in children's lives and poor sleeping habits. Research shows that most parents are giving their children sleeping pills to enhance their sleeping habits (Chorniy, Currie, & Sonchak, 2018). There are also increased cases of prenatal smoking and drug abuse, which has led to the rise in the disorder instances.

The rise in the condition's cases contributes to other disorders. According to a current national survey, 6 in every ten children with the disease had a behavioral problem. Thirty percent of them had anxiety. Other conditions diagnosed include depression, autism, and Tourette syndrome (Chorniy et al., 2018). Children who have the condition have significantly lower reading scores on standardized tests. They have an increased rate of repeating their grade and enrolment in special education for specialized teaching. Evidence also shows that the condition reduces the quality of life of the individuals as it leads to reduced functional abilities in interpersonal skills, organization, and concentration (Hawi, Yates, Kent, Gill, & Bellgrove, 2019). The condition has further led to financial burdens as it is associated with increased health care costs, educational resources, and the productivity loss by adults.

Judgment

The number of individuals diagnosed with ADHD has risen over time. More children have been diagnosed, most of whom come from minority groups. The increased diagnosis of the case is, however, due to the better understanding of the condition by the doctors and the public and the new standards developed for diagnosing the disease (Duda, Casey, O'Brien, Frost, & Phillips, 2019). There is also access to better health care and referrals of individuals, which has led to the rise in the condition. The trend shows that the cases were there even before the increase in the diagnosis but often went unnoticed. There is also a possibility of an increase in the diagnosis of the condition due to improved medical care. It is, therefore, a significant trend that will help in addressing the cases that often went untreated. It has also led to reduced cases of stigma as the condition is now public.

Conclusion

There has been an increase in the diagnosis of ADHD. More children have been diagnosed with the condition where most of them are girls from minority groups. The trend has been contributed by the fact that there are improved diagnostic criteria to determine whether individuals have the condition. There is also increased public awareness about the disorder. The trend, therefore, calls for enhanced medical care to help in preventing and managing the condition.

References

Chorniy, A., Currie, J., & Sonchak, L. (2018). Exploding asthma and ADHD caseloads: The role of Medicaid managed care. Journal of health economics, 60, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.04.002

Costill, D. (2016). Psychotropic prescriptions for toddlers increase as ADHD cases, psychiatric conditions rise. Infectious Diseases in Children, 29(2), 1. https://search.proquest.com/openview/fda317f010ad56e1c439c2762975dce6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=29327

Duda, T. A., Casey, J. E., O'Brien, A. M., Frost, N., & Phillips, A. M. (2019). Reduced graphomotor procedural learning in children and adolescents with ADHD. Human movement science, 65, 60-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2018.06.018

Hawi, Z., Yates, H., Kent, L., Gill, M., & Bellgrove, M. (2019). A case-control genome-wide association study of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). European Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, S956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2017.08.311

Jaffee, S. R. (2019). The rise and rise of developmental perspectives in child psychology and psychiatry. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60(4), 329-332. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13055