Spikes in diagnoses among girls, Hispanics and older kids may be the result of better screening and monitoring among previously under diagnosed groups, experts say.
Roughly 5.8 million children aged five to 17 years are now diagnosed with ADHD, which is characterized by social and behavioral problems as well as challenges in school, according to the analysis of cases reported by parents from 2003 to 2011.
Diagnosis rates jumped 43 percent overall during the study period, from 8.4 percent of children in 2003 to 12 percent by 2011.
Over that time, diagnosis among girls jumped 55 percent from 4.7 percent in 2003 to 7.3 percent in 2011, though prevalence remained higher among boys.
"The sharper increase among girls was a surprise primarily because ADHD is typically diagnosed among boys," said study co-author Sean Cleary, a public health researcher at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
"One possibility to explain the increasing trend among females is a greater recognition of ADHD symptoms observed (e.g. withdrawn, internalizing) that are traditionally overlooked because they are not typically considered a sign of this condition," Cleary added by email.
To assess shifts in diagnosis patterns over time, Cleary and co-author Kevin Collins of Mathematic Policy Research analyzed data on more than 190,000 children from U.S. surveys conducted in 2003, 2007 and 2011.
As part of the surveys, parents reported whether their child had been diagnosed with ADHD.
Boys accounted for the majority of cases, and diagnosis for them rose 40 percent during the study period to 16.5 percent by 2011.
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