Youngest Kids in Class More Likely to Get Prescribed ADHD Meds

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

Kids who are the youngest in their grade may be overmedicated forattention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), according to a Norwegian researcher who studied prescribing data.

Those who were also born preterm were at particular risk of being overmedicated, said Dr. Christine Strand Bachmann, a pediatrician at St. Olav's University Hospital in Trondheim and PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Torgarden.

The study included Norwegian children born between 1989 and 1998, about 488,000 in all.

"We found major differences in the prescription ofADHDmedication," Bachmann said in an NTNU news release. "Children born in November-December had an 80% higher risk of being prescribedADHDmedication, compared to those born in January-February. This finding applies to children who were born at term."

She and her colleagues reviewed all prescriptions kids received from age 10 to 23, comparing those born in January or February with those born in November or December.

Bachmann said the increasedADHDmedication for the youngest kids owes to the way school systems are organized.

"Put simply, it looks like we're medicating the most immature children because we're comparing them to their oldest classmates, who are a whole year older," she said.

“This shouldn't be the basis for receiving anADHDdiagnosis," Bachmann added.

Adults have to expect that a child born in November is going to be less mature than a child born in February of the same year, she said.

"Of course, we can't stop diagnosingADHDand giving medicine to those who need it," Bachmann said. "But what we see here is something else.”

Children who were born before the 37th week ofpregnancy有更高的使用ADHD药物治疗比全职吗term classmates, the study also found.

"In that sense, the youngest premature children carry a double burden," Bachmann said. "The disadvantage of being born late in the year comes on top of the disadvantages of being a preemie."

While use ofADHD medicationsdecreased with age for the young, full-term children, that didn't happen with those born prematurely, the study found.

Bachmann said it appears that preemies are extra susceptible to the negative effect of being the youngest in school.

"Perhaps they experience falling short in the classroom, in gym and in social contexts, compared to their peers," she said. "And perhaps the negative experiences settle in the body in a different way and to a greater extent in those born prematurely."

Kids with ADHD经常有困难with concentration,hyperactivityandimpulsivity.

Bachmann suggested that younger students be assessed individually to determine whether they should wait a year to start school.

In Denmark, which has a flexible approach to starting school, studies do not show an increased use of ADHD meds among the youngest kids in class, Bachmann pointed out. About 40% of Danish kids born in October, November or December postpone their school start for a year.

"Prematurebabiesborn late in the year could especially benefit from this approach," Bachmann said, emphasizing that she is not advocating that all children born in the fall should start school later.

"We think this could be relevant for the most vulnerable children," she said, adding that kids should be individually assessed.

The study found similar age effects for other medications while assessingdrugs for depression,anxiety, psychoses andsleep, but those gaps disappeared through the teen and early adult years.

The findings were recently published in the journal儿科.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control andPreventionhas more on ADHD.

SOURCE: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, news release, Dec. 12, 2022

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