In some states, this month of birth is linked to higher rates of ADHD diagnosis, according to a study



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The study examined 407,846 American children born between 2007 and 2009 to determine the number of ADHD diagnoses related to the child's birth month.

The researchers found that there were more diagnoses for children born in August and that this was only true in states where the September 1st deadline is set for the start of kindergarten, according to Timothy Layton, lead author of the study. This means that children born in August would be among the youngest in their clbadrooms, sometimes nearly a year younger than their clbadmates.

"We did not see anything during the months, except August to September, when we saw this big difference," said Layton, badistant professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School. "We saw that it was only in states that had a deadline of September 1. There was nothing in the states that did not have it."

According to the State Education Commission, which served as a source for researchers, 21 states have this deadline, including Texas, Arizona and Illinois. The remaining 29 states and the District of Columbia have a series of registration deadlines, including December 2 in California and until January 1 in Vermont.

Layton and her co-authors found that the rate of children with ADHD with a birthday in August was 34% higher than that born in September. Among children born in August, 85.1 out of 10,000 children were diagnosed with ADHD, compared to only 63.6 out of 10,000 born in September.

Children born in August also had a 32% higher disease treatment rate than their parents born in September.

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include difficulty in paying attention, being too active and controlling impulsive behavior.
According to a study, 10% of American children with ADHD have been diagnosed
In 2016, about 9.4% of US children – 6.1 million – between 2 and 17 years old had been diagnosed with ADHD at some point in their lives, the CDC said. About 3.3 million of these children were between 12 and 17 years old, 2.4 million between 6 and 11 years old and 388,000 between 2 and 5 years old, the CDC said.

Some symptoms are normal behavior in children, but those with ADHD may not overcome them. The symptoms can be severe and cause difficulties at school, at home or with friends, said the CDC.

Younger children in their peer group, such as those who have an August birthday in a school with a September 1 deadline, may be more likely to suffer from ADHD, said Layton, because some of the behaviors of child could be compatible with those observed. used for diagnosis.

"Basically, normal childhood behaviors are diagnosed as ADHD, and they are treated for them, even if they are only normal children, they happen to be younger than their peers and therefore behave a little differently, "he said.

Signs of ADHD may be different in girls
Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Health, Behavior and Child Development at the Seattle Children's Research Institute, wrote in an e-mail that "This study confirms on a larger scale what other studies have shown on a smaller project, to be confounders of development in the diagnosis of the disease and that the relative immaturity of the brain of young children can cause those who are simply younger to enter school to adopt behaviors consistent with ADHD. "Christakis was not involved in the research.
Joel Nigg, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at Oregon Health and Science University, said that tracking diagnoses in an insurance database allows researchers to see what clinicians are doing, which may be more accurate than to rely on parents' reports on their child's diagnosis. .

But this could be a weakness, he said, since "we do not know how clinicians actually make the diagnosis, or how they follow the protocols", which could leave room for a "biases bias". age-related diagnosis ".

Although it is unlikely that the results will change significantly, Nigg and other researchers also noted that the study's authors had not determined whether the children were actually enrolled in the study. # 39; school.

Even with these limitations, Nigg believes the study is useful for examining ADHD diagnoses.

"It's really helpful to continue to look at what we can call the sociological diagnostic engines." It really helps to solve the real cases, where the child actually has a problem that needs to be addressed, as opposed to in circumstantial cases that could be a normal development it looks only bad because of the situation in which the child is, "he said.

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