title: Nationwide rate of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis and pharmacotherapy in Korea in 2008-2011.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Using the National Health Insurance database in Korea, we examined the diagnostic and treatment incidence and comorbidity of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
  
  
  METHODS
  During 2007-2011, we chose subjects aged 6-18 years, who had at least one medical claim containing an International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision code for diagnosis of ADHD (F90.0) with no medication use in the previous 360 days. Then, we analyzed the data for 2008-2011 to determine the mean annual incidence and prevalence of newly diagnosed and medicated patients, as well as comorbidity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average annual diagnostic incidence of ADHD was 0.357% (29,310.5/8,218,252), and the incidence of medication use for ADHD was 0.248% (20,340.3/8,218,252) during 2008-2011 with no significant annual difference. The transition rate from diagnosis to medication among newly diagnosed ADHD patients was 69%. The overall prevalence rate of ADHD diagnosis and medication during 2008-2011 was 0.799% (65,702/8,218,252) and 0.610% (50,127/8,218,252), respectively. Among newly diagnosed patients with ADHD, osmotic-controlled release oral delivery system methylphenidate was the most commonly used first medication, and depression was the most common comorbid psychiatric diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report of the nationwide data on the current diagnosis and pharmacotherapy of ADHD in the whole population aged 6-18 years. We need further investigation to find the factors of low diagnostic and treatment incidence compared with high prevalence of ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Dankook University Hospital, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Minha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Young Sook
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kwack
authors.forename: Yoo-Sook
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Joung
authors.forename: Soyoung Irene
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Bongseog
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seok Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Un-Sun
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Jaewon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Soo-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Bhang
authors.forename: Jun-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Hyung-yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: In Hwan
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Yeon Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Geon Ho
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Bahn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate
keywords: ADHD; comorbidity; diagnosis; medication