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European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 9/2014

01-09-2014 | Brief Report

Common Danish standards in prescribing medication for children and adolescents with ADHD

Authors: Søren Dalsgaard, Maria Knoth Humlum, Helena Skyt Nielsen, Marianne Simonsen

Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Issue 9/2014

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Abstract

Assessing whether symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children are age-inappropriate is essential. Hence, comparing children within one school grade is problematic and the risk of applying relative standards is inherent. Being young-for-grade increases the likelihood of receiving medication in countries with high prevalence of ADHD medication. We test the same hypothesis in a cohort of 418,396 children and find no difference between children who are young-for-grade and old-for-grade. The Danish system, with its restrictive approach to medication and clear diagnostic guidelines seems to have avoided a systematic bias of ADHD medication in young children reported in other countries.
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Metadata
Title
Common Danish standards in prescribing medication for children and adolescents with ADHD
Authors
Søren Dalsgaard
Maria Knoth Humlum
Helena Skyt Nielsen
Marianne Simonsen
Publication date
01-09-2014
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / Issue 9/2014
Print ISSN: 1018-8827
Electronic ISSN: 1435-165X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-013-0508-5

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