Gender Differences in ADHD : Subtypes and Treatment Gaps

Sammanfattning

It has been theorized that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is underdiagnosed among girls and women due to girls being more likely to present with inattentive subtype ADHD, which can be harder to detect. There is also a potential treatment gap between genders in ADHD. This thesis aims to examine gender differences in ADHD subtype in a community sample, medication rates among girls with ADHD over time, and current gender differences in medication and behavioral treatment for ADHD. Three datasets were used for analysis. To investigate gender differences in ADHD, a multinomial logistic regression was used with the ADHD-200 (n = 947) dataset. To analyze if medication rates had increased among girls with ADHD, a chi-square test of independence was used with the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) (n = 29,433) and the 2024 NSCH (n = 51,375). To investigate gender differences in medication and behavioral treatment, two binomial logistic regression analyses were done with the 2024 NSCH dataset. Girls had significantly greater odds than boys of being diagnosed with inattentive subtype compared to combined and hyperactive-impulsive subtype ADHD. No significant change in medication rates was found among girls with ADHD. There were no significant gender differences in odds of receiving medication or behavioral treatment. Girls have greater odds of being diagnosed with inattentive subtype ADHD, which supports the theory that girls with ADHD are underdiagnosed due to gender differences in ADHD subtypes. There was no change in medication rates among girls with ADHD, though it is possible that, contrary to previous research, there was no gender difference in medication in 2019. In this thesis, there was no gender difference in medication or behavioral treatment, which may be explained by stronger influence from other factors in countries without free health care. Greater awareness and attentiveness is needed among teachers and parents for earlier identification of inattentive ADHD among girls.