Skip to main content

15.5 Million Adults Had Current ADHD Diagnosis in 2023

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Oct 15, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Oct. 15, 2024 -- An estimated 15.5 million U.S adults had a current diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2023, according to research published in the Oct. 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Brooke S. Staley, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and treatment among U.S. adults using data from the National Center for Health Statistics Rapid Surveys System collected during October to November 2023.

The researchers found that based on self-report, an estimated 15.5 million U.S. adults (6.0 percent) had a current diagnosis of ADHD in 2023; about half received the diagnosis at age 18 years or older. In the previous year, 36.5 percent of adults with ADHD were not receiving any treatment, while one-third were receiving both medication and counseling or behavioral treatment. Of the approximately one-third of adults with ADHD who took a stimulant medication to treat their ADHD, 71.5 percent had difficulty filling their prescription because it was unavailable. About half of adults with ADHD have ever used telehealth for ADHD-related services.

"Results highlight the magnitude of ADHD as a public health issue across the life course," the authors write. "Although the majority of adults with current ADHD received counseling or medication treatment for their ADHD in the previous year, approximately one-third did not receive any type of treatment."

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Doctors' Preferences for Their Own End-of-Life Care? No Life-Sustaining Practices

FRIDAY, June 13, 2025 -- Many physicians would personally prefer to avoid life-sustaining practices if they had advanced cancer or Alzheimer disease, according to a study...

Mindfulness, Transcranial Stimulation Promising for Urgency Urinary Incontinence

FRIDAY, June 13, 2025 -- Mindfulness (MI) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex offer therapeutic benefit for reducing...

Most TikTok Videos on Inflammatory Bowel Disease Are Low Quality

FRIDAY, June 13, 2025 -- The most-viewed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) videos on TikTok provide low-quality medical information, according to a study published online in...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.