The Controversies Concerning the Prevalence of the Neurodevelopmental Conditions ADHD and Autism

Abstract

J Neurol Neurocrit Care, Volume 4(2): 1–2, 2021 The neurodevelopmental disorders ADHD and autism are among the most important diagnoses in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and are also important diagnoses in adult psychiatry [1]. The prevalence of diagnosed ADHD varies considerably between countries and regions and one region can report more than twice the prevalence in another region [2,3]. ADHD and autism have been found to have very high heritabilities which implies that environmental factors, although of importance, are not completely decisive for the prevalence of these conditions [4,5]. Studies of ADHD in different countries have shown approximately the same prevalence when using the same strict criteria [6]. The prevalence of ADHD in childhood has been estimated to be in the order of 5 to 6% [7].