Some ADHD Diagnoses Based on Age
Wednesday, August 18 2010
by Will Michaels
A recent study from North Carolina State University says some doctors could be mistaking normal behavior as symptoms of attention-deficit hyper-activity disorder. According to researchers, the youngest children in a class are 25 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest children.
Research assistant professor Melinda Morrill says when younger children are compared with older children in the same class, their behavior naturally appears immature.
Melinda Morrill: If you think about a child that's just entering kindergarten, they're 5 years old and they're going to be in a class with children that could be up to 12 months different in age. That's 20 percent of their life, so that could represent a very large difference in maturity level.
Morrill says doctors have to compare children's behavior in order to diagnose ADHD, but the study proves those comparisons should be made within a tighter age group.
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