Seedlabs
Source research

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnoses and prescriptions in UK primary care, 2000–2018: population-based cohort study

Alexandra Philipsen · 2024 · 2 citationsRead the paper

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common developmental disorder, affects 5-7% of children and 2.5% of adults globally. Recent increases in ADHD medication prescriptions have sparked the debate on overdiagnosis and overtreatment. McKechnie et al. examine UK ADHD prevalence and medication trends over 18 years, with implications for mental health services.

What the full text shows

Tested in real conditions
  • Overall administrative prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and medication use in UK primary care. — 0.5% diagnosed, 0.2% receiving medication (UK primary care population, 2000-2018)
  • Proportion of diagnosed individuals not receiving medication from primary care. — 57% (Individuals with an ADHD diagnosis)
  • Increase in new ADHD diagnosis rates by gender and age group. — Boys: 2x; Men: 20x; Girls: 4x; Women: 15x (Between 2000 and 2018)
  • Overall proportion of ADHD diagnoses by gender and age. — Boys (3-17): 1.8%; Girls (3-17): 0.4%; Adult males: 0.3%; Adult females: 0.07% (UK primary care population)
  • Increase in medication use proportions. — Boys: 0.9% (4x increase); Girls: 0.2% (9x increase); Adult males: 0.04% (30x increase); Adult females: 0.01% (15x increase) (Between 2000 and 2018)
  • Trend in new diagnoses for very young children. — Decrease (Children under 6 years of age)
Setup
Electronic health records of 7,655,931 individuals from UK primary care (IQVIA medical research data) between 2000 and 2018.
How
The study used descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and time series analysis on electronic health records. It tracked ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions using the Townsend deprivation index to account for social deprivation.
Limitations
Data excludes non-pharmacological treatments (psychoeducation, behavioral interventions). · Relies on administrative data from primary care, which may underrepresent total cases. · Only individuals with at least one full calendar year of data were included.

Summarized by Gemma 4 from the open-access full text · 10 Oct 2026. Read it