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The number of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is up dramatically from a decade ago, according to a new study, although researchers speculate the increase may be due to heightened awareness of the condition among physicians rather than a growing number of children being affected.

The Northwestern Medicine study, to be published in the March/April issue of the journal Academic Pediatrics, found that office visits to primary care physicians for ADHD in the U.S. rose 66 per cent from 2000 to 2010.

"ADHD is now a common diagnosis among children and teens," Craig Garfield, a professor of pediatrics and medical social sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study, said in a release.

"The magnitude and speed of this shift in one decade is likely due to an increased awareness of ADHD, which may have caused more physicians to recognize symptoms and diagnose the disorder."

The study found that children under the age of 18 were diagnosed with ADHD 6.2 million times. A decade later, that number had jumped to 10.4 million. It also found that psychostimulants, such as Adderall and Ritalin, remained by far the most common medication prescribed to children with the disorder: 96 per cent of treatments including them in 2000 and 87 per cent in 2010.

As well, the study found that children diagnosed with ADHD are increasingly being referred to specialists, such as pediatric psychologists, rather than being treated by primary doctors.

"Recently, there's been more public health advisories issued about problems or side effects of different ADHD medications," Dr. Garfield said. "It may be that general pediatricians are shying away from treating patients themselves and instead rely on their specialist colleagues to provide the treatment and management of these medications."

ADHD is the most common psychiatric disorder diagnosed in children and affects between eight and 10 per cent of males and three to four per cent of females under the age of 18, according to the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance.

The group agrees with Dr. Garfield's speculation regarding rising rates of diagnosis, stating on its website that, "ADHD may seem to be more common today than in the past but this is largely due to the increase in research and media scrutiny."

Is the drastic increase in new ADHD cases cause for concern?

Editor's Note: This article has been clarified to make the distinction between the number of office visits, rather than the number of individual children, diagnosed with ADHD.

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