Rise in ADHD in Young Women During the Pandemic

TOPLINE:

In the 2 years after March 2020, primary care diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in female individuals aged 1-24 years increased 24.7% above the expected rates, peaking at 158.6% above the expected rates in those aged 20-24 years, a UK study showed. On the other hand, ADHD in male individuals and depression rates in both sexes were lower than expected rates during this period.

METHODOLOGY:

• This population-based study used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and included more than 12.3 million individuals aged 1-24 years, of whom over 10.3 million participants were from 1475 practices in England and over 2 million were from 406 practices in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
• Researchers analysed monthly incidence rates of ADHD (1-24 years of age), autism spectrum disorder (1-24 years of age), anxiety disorders (6-24 years of age), depression (6-24 years of age), substance misuse (17-24 years of age), personality disorders (17-24 years of age), and prescribing of psychotropic medications (6-24 years of age).
• Secondary outcomes were monthly event rates for prescribing.
• Expected monthly rates were calculated at pandemic onset on the basis of observed trends between January 2010 and February 2022 and were compared with observed rates during the pandemic.
• The analysis was stratified on the basis of sex, age group, and deprivation quintiles.

TAKEAWAY:

• ADHD diagnoses in female individuals were 24.7% higher than those expected in the 2 years following March 2020, with increases of 158.6% among those aged 20-24 years and 52.8% among those aged 17-19 years, with the largest increases seen in the least deprived areas.
• The incident prescribing of ADHD medications in female individuals exceeded predicted levels by 14.1% between March 2020 and March 2022 and was most marked in those aged 20-24 years from less deprived quintiles.
• Rates of other psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic prescriptions were either below or close to expected trends.
• Depression diagnoses were 48.2% lower than those expected among male individuals and 31.8% lower than those expected among female individuals.

IN PRACTICE:

“Increased ADHD awareness may partly explain the study’s findings. However, the fall in other diagnoses may reflect barriers to accessing health services at the height of the pandemic,” the authors wrote. “Timely diagnosis and access to treatments are needed to prevent exacerbations of mental health difficulties and neurodevelopmental conditions,” they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Alex M. Trafford, University of Manchester, Manchester, England. It was published online on August 11 in the British Journal of General Practice.

LIMITATIONS:

CPRD data covered only the diagnoses recorded by general practitioners (and those relayed from secondary care/private clinics), so unreported or non-care‐seeking cases were excluded. Inconsistent coding practices, no details on prescription indications or secondary care prescriptions, and missing ethnicity data further restricted the analysis.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research and the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration. Several authors reported receiving funds, grants, and personal fees and being members of the NIHR or its affiliate organisations. Additional disclosures are noted in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.