Disparities in ADHD assessment, diagnosis, and treatment

The regional study by Baumgardner and colleagues converges with existing literature to clearly show that the distribution of ADHD diagnosis falls along socioeconomic lines, according to the relative wealth of neighborhoods. This adds additional evidence that trends in the diagnosis and treatment for ADHD in children move in the exact opposite direction from those who are at highest risk for meeting criteria, for experiencing impairment, for and downstream socioeconomic sequelae. Contributing factors, such as marginal diagnoses (such as when parent and teacher symptom reports diverge), inadequate insurance coverage, limited time, and lack of familiarity and comfort with diagnostic and prescribing guidelines, may leave the door open to misdiagnosis and treatment. In some cases, this may take the form of over-diagnosis and over-treatment, in the form of false-positive diagnoses with ADHD, and treatments for it, or may alternatively take the form of false-negative diagnoses. If the social and epidemiological data are any indication, it is furthermore likely that such false-positive or false-negative outcomes may break along socioeconomic lines. Increased use of formal screening tools, increased curricular time for mental health in primary care residencies, support for physicians in the field in the form of referral options and remote consultation and support, may all serve to improve quality of care for individual patients, and may also serve to regularize treatment across socioeconomic and sociodemographic lines, hence reducing disparities. Further research is needed to study the root causes and dynamics that create such disparities, but the steps outlined above may help in the near term.