Prevalence of ADHD in the Italian paediatric population and rate of exposition to pharmacological and behavioural treatment

Key words: ADHD, Prevalence, Multimodal treatment, Register

Objective: to assess the prevalence of ADHD in the Italian paediatric population and to evaluate the rate of exposition to pharmacological treatment in children and adolescents affected by ADHD.
Method: observational post-marketing study, 4th phase. Assessment of the drugs prescribed to children and adolescents aged between 6-18 with ADHD in child psychiatry unit of San Donà di Piave.
Results: the population aged 6-18 years amount to 24,000 inhabitants. 2,503 (10.8%) were examined in 2007 for suspected developmental disorders and 286 (1.2%) were diagnosed positive for ADHD. 20 out of 286 (7.0%) patients had received the multimodal treatment and 186 the behavioural treatment alone. In 2010, the subjects suffering from ADHD were 263 (1.1 %) on a population aged 6-18 of 24,650 individuals. 44 (16.7 %) were in multimodal treatment and 153 received behavioural treatment.
Conclusions: the survey was carried out in a small population. Nevertheless this cohort is quite representative of Italian paediatric population. The observed prevalence of ADHD corresponds to that expected on the basis of the data of previous epidemiological Italian surveys but considerably lower than the one reported in international literature. The rate of exposure to pharmacological treatment is similar to that of other European countries.