Adult ADHD Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment in the DSM-5 era
Young J, Goodman DW. Primary Care Companion CNS Disord. 2016,18(6)
Treatment of ADHD in older adults
Psychiatric Times interviews Dr. David W. Goodman about ADHD in older adults
Psychiatric Times interviewed Dr. Goodman about the unrecognized prevalence of ADHD in adults over age 50. The Psychiatric Times, , a profession psychiatric print newspaper, is distributed to 30, 000 U.S. psychiatrists. You can listen to the concise 6 minute interview and learn more about ADHD that persists throughout one ‘s life. While the challenges of life change at different developmental phases (school, college, first job, marriage, children, job changes/promotions), ADHD symptoms persist to an impairing degree for 60% of children with ADHD.
The impact of untreated ADHD later in life can have significant negative impact on your ability to effective handle daily tasks and responsibilities. In fact, no adults over age 60 diagnosed with ADHD were diagnosed as children. Makes sense since ADHD was rarely considered in the 1950s and 1960s.
Treatment seems to be effective later in life and people with chronic symptoms of ADHD should seek an evaluation with an experienced doctor or clinician. My older patients have been grateful to discover “It was ADHD, not me as a person.”
ADHD in older adults: First published review of world-wide literature
On December 16, 2015, our article reviewing the world’s English scientific literature on ADHD in adults over age 50 years was published online in Drugs and Aging, an international journal. While there is a paucity of research, there are enough publications to merit pulling this literature together into one paper. Most of research comes out of the Amsterdam ADHD research group under the direction of Dr. Sandra Kooji. Some preliminary findings:
- Prevalence estimated at 3%. To put this into perspective, ADHD prevalence rate for children in the U.S. is approximately 8%, and 4.5% for adults. We know that for most children ADHD symptoms persist into adulthood. While we have prospective, longitudinal studies of ADHD children for 30 years, we do not have this information as the children age past 50 years old.
- Only 1 of 5 memory clinics actively screen for ADHD. This will leave many with ADHD misdiagnosed and likely mistreated
- Older adults on stimulant medication report better attention and greater ability to manage daily tasks compared to ADHD older adult not on medication.
Our paper reviews a broader range of findings and will be helpful to researchers and clinicians seeking to broaden their knowledge and polish their clinical skills as these patients present for evaluation of cognitive complaints. We look forward to participating in the expansion of this knowledge.
David W. Goodman, M.D.