Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults: Umbrella review of evidence generated across the globe

Getinet Ayano; Light Tsegay; Yitbarek Gizachew; Mogesie Necho; Kalkidan Yohannes; Mebratu Abraha; Sileshi Demelash; Tamrat Anbesaw; Rosa Alati

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115449

Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults: Umbrella review of evidence generated across the globe

Psychiatry Res. 2023 Oct:328:115449. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115449. Epub 2023 Sep 9.

Authors

Getinet Ayano¹, Light Tsegay², Yitbarek Gizachew³, Mogesie Necho⁴, Kalkidan Yohannes⁵, Mebratu Abraha⁶, Sileshi Demelash⁷, Tamrat Anbesaw⁴, Rosa Alati⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Population Health, Curtin University, WA, Australia. Electronic address: g.yaya@curtin.edu.au.
² Aksum University, Aksum, Ethiopia. Electronic address: leilatsegay@gmail.com.
³ Bethel Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia.
⁵ SWEDESD, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁶ Research Directorate Office and Nursing Education Department, Saint Paulo's Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁷ Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Department of Family Medicine, CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
⁸ School of Population Health, Curtin University, WA, Australia; Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

PMID: 37708807
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115449

Abstract

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a class of neurodevelopmental disorders which is commonly diagnosed in school-age children, but it can occur in any age group. To provide a robust synthesis of published evidence on the prevalence of ADHD in adults, we conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Methods: The review was guided by preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA). We searched PsychINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus to retrieve pertinent studies. The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023389704). A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) was used to assess the quality of the included studies. A random-effects model was used to perform a meta-analysis.

Results: Five systematic reviews and meta-analyses (57 unique primary studies) with data on 21,142,129 adult participants were eligible for inclusion in this umbrella review. Inverse variance weighted random effect meta-analysis of these studies indicated that the pooled prevalence of ADHD in adults was 3.10% (95%CI 2.60-3.60%). ADHD-I (the inattentive type of ADHD) remained the commonest type of ADHD, followed by ADHD-HI (the hyperactive type) and ADHD-C (the combined type).

Conclusion: The results indicate that ADHD is relatively high in adults, with ADHD-I remaining the most common subtype. Attention should be given to preventing, reducing, identifying, and managing ADHD in adults.

Keywords: ADHD; Adults; Meta-analysis; Systematic review; Umbrella review.

Publication types

Review