title: Influence of Relative Age on Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Taiwanese Children.
abstract: To determine the potential influence of relative age on the diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), especially in reference to an Asian country.
  
  
  
  A total of 378 881 subjects aged 4-17 years during the study period (September 1, 1997 to August 31, 2011) were enrolled in our study from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the likelihood of receiving ADHD diagnosis and treatment for those who were born in August (the youngest) compared with those who were born in September (the oldest).
  
  
  
  Both boys and girls born in August had a higher risk of being diagnosed with ADHD (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.45-1.84; OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.36-2.15) and receiving ADHD medication (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.53-2.02; OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.26-2.18) than those born in September. Sensitivity tests conducted over different periods revealed consistent findings.
  
  
  
  Relative age, as an indicator of neurocognitive maturity, is crucial in the risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication among children and adolescents. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the age of a child within a grade when diagnosing ADHD and prescribing medication for treating ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: kremer7119@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mu-Hong
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Municipal Gan Dau Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Hsuan
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ya-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kai-Lin
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tung-Ping
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Jen
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Cheng-Ta
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chen
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Han
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Research Center for Industry of Human Ecology, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Liver Research Center, Division of Hepatology, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tai-Long
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzeng-Ji
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ju-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk; D013624:Taiwan