On this occasion, Maria Dolors Maspsychologist and regular contributor to our portal, answers several interesting questions about the diagnosis of ADHD.
If you haven't read the previous articles on the subject, here they are:
At what average age is ADHD diagnosed?
The age of diagnosis is at the beginning of Primary, around seven years old. Although it is very likely that before this age, the child has shown signs of the possible disorder.
Is it a disease that disappears with age?
ADHD is a chronic disorderwhich persists throughout life and therefore cannot be cured. However, over the years and with appropriate treatment from childhood, the disorder can be controlled. It can even be observed that certain manifestations change and some symptoms are minimizingtherefore the impact on the daily life of the adolescent and then the adult also changes.
We know of longitudinal studies with untreated ADHD cases, such as that of Biederman (2005), where the results obtained indicated that in 85% of the sample the symptoms persisted over time, while in 15% of the cases the symptoms had been reduced.
In adolescence, hyperactivity may decrease, but the symptoms may continue. school problems and difficulties with attention, organization, planning and time control. Impulsiveness can be seen when the child speaks and acts without thinking, which can lead to conflicts with peers and affect their relationship with them. These problems can be linked to low self-esteem. In the worst cases, they may fail at school, have risky behaviors and abuse toxic substances.
In adulthood it continues lack of attention and they turn out to be forgetful and absent-minded people. Impulsiveness manifests itself in acts such as talking a lot without thinking, interrupting conversations, showing impatience and not tolerating quiet activities. These behaviors can affect work and social relationships.
The disorder is shown different according to age and the child's development, where the environment intervenes. Thus, not all children with ADHD will show the same characteristics throughout their lives.
Why are there more cases of boys with ADHD than girls?
The estimated incidence varies widely, depending on different studies.
Studies conducted in recent years have found that the prevalence rates of ADHD, according to the DSM-IV-TR (DSM-IV revised) (APA, 2000), are between 3% and 7% of the child and adolescent population.
Some authors consider that this disorder affects between 5% and 10% of the population, while other authors consider that the incidence is between 8% and 12% of the population.
ADHD is more common in men than in womenIt is considered that for every four cases of boys there is one girl with this disorder. It should be noted that in the case of girls, inattention predominates and disruptive behaviors do not stand out as much.
That is, because the symptoms of inattention are more subtle, they are less frequently detected and cause the diagnosis of ADHD in girls/adolescents to take longer to be made or, in many cases, to go unnoticed. According to Green and Chee (1994) in Casajús (2009), there are cases in which a girl affected by ADHD is not visited by a professional until she accumulates many school failures, and not so much because of her inappropriate behavior in class.
Does ADHD have different degrees, depending on the person who suffers from it?
The DSM-IV-TR cites the following classification in the section “Attention deficit disorders and disruptive behavior”:
– “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type (F90.0[314.01])”: This diagnosis is made when six of the symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity and six or more symptoms of inattention persist for six months or more.
– “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, predominantly attention deficit type (F98.8 [314.00])”: To diagnose this subtype, six or more criteria of inattention must be met for six months or more, but fewer than six symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity.
– “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type (F90.0 [314.01])”: This subtype occurs when six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity persist for six months or more, but fewer than six symptoms of inattention.
In addition, we can add a second classification in which the level of graduation is distinguished according to the severity of the ADHD symptoms (Puig and Balés, 2003):
- ADHD combined type: can be mild, moderate or severe.
- ADHD with predominant attention deficit: can be mild, moderate or severe.
- ADHD with hyperactive-impulsive predominance: can be mild, moderate or severe