ADHD Kids Are 'Over-diagnosed' And May Just Be Immature: Study

If you have an August-born kid in the lower grades in Taiwan, she may be 'misdiagnosed' with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Researchers in Taipei, where the annual cut-off birthdate for school enrollment is August 31, found that August children are the youngest, while the September kids are the oldest, so she may only have immaturity, not ADHD.

The study  by lead researcher Dr. Mu-Hong Chen and her colleagues from Taipei and Taoyuan evaluated information from 378,881 children who were between four and 17, from 1997 to 2011.

"Both boys and girls born in August had a higher risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication than those born in September. Sensitivity tests conducted over different periods revealed consistent findings," researchers wrote.

Hence, just preschool or elementary schoolgoers who had been born in August were diagnosed with ADHD, along with receiving medication.

However, among adolescents, they did not find  any major differences between the August and September born.

Hence, ADHD is being "over-diagnosed". With advancing age, there is more maturity, and the birth month does not count much.

"Relative age, as an indicator of neurocognitive maturity, is crucial in the risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication among children and adolescents, Chen explained. "Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the age of a child within a grade when diagnosing ADHD and prescribing medication to treat ADHD."