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Mental Health and Society
Mental health is one of the most important aspects of the overall health and wellbeing of children, adolescents, and adults. For children and adolescents, mental health is crucial towards their cognitive and psychological development. However, a significant portion of children and adolescents suffer from mental health disorders that affect their overall health and wellbeing as well as development. According to O’Keeffe, it is estimated that 10% children between 5 and 15 years suffer from a mental health disorder while nearly 50% of all lifetime psychiatric disorders or illnesses start by mid adolescence (p.1). Since most of these mental health disorders can persist into adulthood and in turn cause long-term morbidity, early diagnosis and treatment is considered vital towards enhancing the overall health of children and adolescents. This paper examines the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), its significance to public health, and a data source that can be utilized to monitor it.
Prevalence of ADHD among Children and/or Adolescents
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is regarded as one of the most common neurobehavioral disorder among children and generates severe negative effects on children, adolescents, and even adults. Given its severe negative effects, this mental health condition can generate serious economic burdens on the affected families and the society. This mental health condition is characterized by over-activity, inattentiveness, impulsivity or a combination of all these symptoms (O’Keeffe, p.2). The impairing symptoms from this mental health condition can persist into adolescents and adulthood in 60% of the cases. In the remaining cases, the overt hyperactivity is substituted by inner restlessness, impatience, and emotional deregulation into adulthood. Notably, the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affect a child or adolescent’s academic, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning. ADHD is regarded as a serious mental health condition among children since it affects between 3% and 5% of school age population (O’Keeffe, p.2). However, the reported prevalence of this neurobehavioral disorder among children differs from 2% to 18% based on the utilized diagnostic criteria and the examined population. As of 2017, the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among school-age children is estimated to range from 8% to 11%, which implies that it’s one of...
Based on the findings of a meta-analysis of 175 studies from a wide geographic distribution include Europe and Asia, the projected pool prevalence of this condition was 7.2%.
The 2011 National Survey of Children’s Health demonstrated that the prevalence of a parent-reported diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among U.S. children aged 4 to 17 years was 11%. This represented a significant increase i.e. 42% in comparison to the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health. The survey also indicated that nearly one-third of children were diagnosed with this condition before six years. Boys account for a significant portion of ADHD cases at 15.1% while girls account for 6.7%. Additionally, the prevalence of the condition increases with age i.e. 7.7% among 4 to10 year olds, 14.3% among 11-14 year olds, and 14.0% among 15 to 17 years olds (Krull, Augustyn & Torchia par, 5).
Importance of the Condition and its Prevalence to Public Health
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among children is a major public health issue given its devastating impact on the overall health and wellbeing of this population. As previously mentioned, this condition has devastating impacts on the affected children because it interferes with their academic, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social functioning. Secondly, this issue remains a major public health concern because it negatively impacts affected families and the society. Since its negative impacts can persist into adulthood, ADHD among children generates financial burdens upon families and the society, which makes it a major public health concern. In this regard, professionals in public health are increasingly looking for measures to prevent and mitigate the prevalence and impacts of this condition. Through its negative impacts on children, families and the society, ADHD generates additional burdens to the public health sector.
ADHD among children is considered a public health issue because it generates individual and system cost burdens (Hinshaw, Peele & Danielson par, 1). The costs associated with this disorder are both direct and indirect since they arise in different ways given its numerous short and long-term manifestations. Additionally, this condition is a public health concern because it has broader implications at the population level, which necessitates the need to identification of a suitable treatment…
Works Cited Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. "Frequently Asked Questions about the NSCH." Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health - A Project of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2017. . Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. "The National Survey of Children's Health." Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2017. . Hinshaw, Stephen, Pamela Peele, and Louis Danielson. "Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2017. . Krull, Kevin R., Marilyn Augustyn, and Mary M. Torchia. "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Epidemiology and Pathogenesis." UpToDate. UpToDate, Inc., 12 Sept. 2017. Web. 23 Sept. 2017. . O’Keeffe, Nikki, Blanaid Gavin, Walter Cullen, and Fiona McNicholas. "Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Diagnosis & Management." Quality in Practice Committee. ICGP, June 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2017. .
It is easier to focus on ADHD statistics for children of school age (5-17 years old), because diagnosing ADHD in preschool aged children is difficult. Data from the NHIS indicate that: In 2001-2004, 7.7% of children ages 5-17 were reported to have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nine percent of White non-Hispanic children, 8% of Black non-Hispanic children, 2% of Asian non-Hispanic children, and 4% of Hispanic children were
But Canada took steps to defer sales of the medicine which was provoked by 20 sudden losses of lives; out of 14 were children, among those consuming the prescribed doses of Adderall XR. There were reported cases of about a dozen strokes, two among children. The deaths took place during 1999 in the United States. The Canadian retracting of the drug Adderall XR will not drive similar steps in
Introduction Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral childhood disorders with 5% of school children being affected by the disorder (Czamara, Tiesler, Kohbock et al., 2013). According to the DSM-V (2013), ADHD is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, all of which interfere with the child’s ability to engage in quality “social, academic, or occupational functioning” (p. 2) for an extended period of time—at least 6 months
ADHD Comorbidity The challenge of dealing with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is increased exponentially by the individual having accompanying challenges. These challenges may be psychological as well as social. A primary concern for parents, patients, and researchers is that there are a large number of individuals with the original condition who remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. This means that the accompanying condition also remains undiagnosed. It therefore becomes critical that there
[Stephen V Farrone] Research has also focused on brain studies of ADHD subjects with the hope of a better understanding of the neurobehavioral disorders. Functional MRI images have revealed new information on the differences in the brain activation patterns among ADHD subjects and healthy people without the condition. The focus, which had thus far been restricted to the frontal lobe, has now been extended and researchers are actively studying other
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a common childhood problem affecting as much as 3-5% of the school-age population. The core symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Children with ADHD exhibit functional impairment across multiple settings and engage in disruptive behaviors, thus inviting criticism from adults and peer rejection. Psycho stimulant medication has been shown to be reasonably successful, but may produce significant side effects in a