Medication dispensing among Māori and non-Māori screened for preschool ADHD

To investigate whether tamariki Māori screened for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) concerns in the B4 School Check (B4SC) between 2011 to 2018 are as likely to receive ADHD medication as non-Māori children.

Using population-level data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure, we investigated whether ADHD medication dispensing differed for tamariki Māori screened for ADHD concerns relative to non-Māori children. Analyses were also stratified by area-level deprivation and urban/rural profile of residence.

In our cohort of 414,171 children, 2.8% of Māori and 1.6% of non-Māori were screened as showing ADHD concerns. Among those with ADHD concerns, tamariki Māori had a lower likelihood of ADHD medication dispensing following the B4SC (10.8%) relative to non-Māori children (14.9%), but this effect was only significant among those living in the most deprived quintile and outside of major urban areas.

Our study indicates that inequities to accessing ADHD treatment may exist for tamariki Māori living in highly deprived neighbourhoods or outside of major urban areas. Further research is needed to understand what the specific barriers may be to accessing ADHD medication treatment for Māori in these areas.