April, 2020
ADHD Statistics: New ADD Facts and Research
How common is ADHD? More than 16 million (9.4 percent) of children in the U.S. have an ADD diagnosis, according to the latest data. Read on for more ADHD statistics, facts, and information regarding attention deficit in kids and adults.
ADHD Statistics: How Common is ADHD?
ADHD Prevalence in Children
About 6.1 million children in the United States (9.4 percent) between ages 2 to 17 are estimated to have ever been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD), according to a 2016 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This figure includes:
- 388,000 (2.4 percent) of young children aged 2 to 5 years
- 2.4 million (9.6 percent) of school-age children aged 6 to 11 years
- 3.3 million (13.6 percent) of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years
The same study found that boys are more likely to have ever been diagnosed with ADHD than were girls (12.9 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively).
Research, however, suggests that ADHD affects a greater number of girls than typically and traditionally reported. ADHD may be missed in girls because of the way their symptoms tend to manifest compared to boys’, which may reflect a general bias in the diagnostic process.
ADHD is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood, per the DSM-53. While figures vary, the worldwide ADHD prevalence in children is estimated at about 5 percent.
