ADHD and gender
Although ADHD is thought to be common across genders, you are more likely to receive a diagnosis if you are male. In childhood, although population studies find 2.5 times more boys meet criteria than girls and other genders, in clinical studies four times more actually receive a diagnosis.
If you are female or another gender, ADHD may be overlooked or diagnosed later. There are various reasons behind this, including that women and other genders tend to present with the inattentive subtype of ADHD, rather than its more striking hyperactive/impulsive features.
Puberty-related changes in sex hormones may also lead to ADHD symptoms becoming more apparent. There is also evidence that, while women and other genders may be better at ‘masking’ impairment in childhood, the ability to do this can decline with age.
The treatment gap
Despite an increase in people being assessed for, and diagnosed with, ADHD there remains a treatment gap. Although not all people diagnosed with ADHD choose to take medications, (there are many other effective treatment strategies as detailed elsewhere on these pages), there is a wide disparity between the prevalence figures above and the numbers of people dispensed medication for ADHD.
Over time the dispensing rate for New Zealand European groups has increased more rapidly compared to Māori, Pacific, and Asian groups. There is concern that this may reflect particular barriers to receiving ADHD diagnosis and treatment for these populations.
Although the number of adults seeking a diagnosis of ADHD has increased over time, there is concern it remains under-diagnosed in this population group too. This may relate to historical beliefs that ADHD only affected children, significant barriers in being able to access assessments, as well as adults with ADHD often having co-occurring conditions that may mask the symptoms of ADHD.
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