Influence of Relative Age on Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Taiwanese Children

Objective To determine the potential influence of relative age on the diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), especially in reference to an Asian country. Study design A total of 378 881 subjects aged 4-17 years during the study period (September 1, 1997 to August...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of pediatrics 2016-05, Vol.172, p.162-167.e1
Main Authors: Chen, Mu-Hong, MD, Lan, Wen-Hsuan, MD, Bai, Ya-Mei, MD, PhD, Huang, Kai-Lin, MD, Su, Tung-Ping, MD, Tsai, Shih-Jen, MD, Li, Cheng-Ta, MD, PhD, Lin, Wei-Chen, MD, Chang, Wen-Han, MSc, Pan, Tai-Long, PhD, Chen, Tzeng-Ji, MD, PhD, Hsu, Ju-Wei, MD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Age Factors
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - therapy
Child
Child, Preschool
Databases, Factual
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Pediatrics
Risk
Taiwan
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective To determine the potential influence of relative age on the diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), especially in reference to an Asian country. Study design A total of 378 881 subjects aged 4-17 years during the study period (September 1, 1997 to August 31, 2011) were enrolled in our study from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the likelihood of receiving ADHD diagnosis and treatment for those who were born in August (the youngest) compared with those who were born in September (the oldest). Results Both boys and girls born in August had a higher risk of being diagnosed with ADHD (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.45-1.84; OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.36-2.15) and receiving ADHD medication (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.53-2.02; OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.26-2.18) than those born in September. Sensitivity tests conducted over different periods revealed consistent findings. Conclusions Relative age, as an indicator of neurocognitive maturity, is crucial in the risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication among children and adolescents. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the age of a child within a grade when diagnosing ADHD and prescribing medication for treating ADHD.
ISSN:0022-3476
1097-6833
DOI:10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.02.012