National Health Statistics Reports

Number 81  September 3, 2015

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

Diagnostic Experiences of Children With 

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

by Susanna N. Visser, Dr.P.H., M.S., National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; 

Benjamin Zablotsky, Ph.D., National Center for Health Statistics; and Joseph R. Holbrook, Ph.D., M.P.H., 

Melissa L. Danielson, M.S.P.H., and Rebecca H. Bitsko, Ph.D., National Center on Birth Defects and 

Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Objectives—This report describes the diagnostic experiences of a sample of 

children in the United States diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder 

(ADHD) as of 2011–2012.

Data sources—Data were drawn from the 2014 National Survey of the Diagnosis 

and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Tourette Syndrome, a 

follow-up to the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children’s Health.

Results—The median age at which children with ADHD were first diagnosed 

with the disorder was 7 years; one-third were diagnosed before age 6. Children with 

ADHD were diagnosed by a wide variety of health care providers, including primary 

care physicians and specialists. Regardless of age at diagnosis, the majority of children 

(53.1%) were first diagnosed by primary care physicians. Notable differences were 

found by age at diagnosis for two types of specialists. Children diagnosed before age 

6 were more likely to have been diagnosed by a psychiatrist, and those diagnosed at 

ages 6 and over were more likely to have been diagnosed by a psychologist. Among 

children diagnosed with ADHD, the initial concern about a child’s behavior was 

most commonly expressed by a family member (64.7%), but someone from school or 

daycare first expressed concern for about one-third of children later diagnosed with 

ADHD (30.1%). For approximately one out of five children (18.1%), only family 

members provided information to the child’s doctor during the ADHD assessment.

Keywords: ADHD • NS–DATA • national survey 

Introduction

Parental reports indicate that more 

than 1 in 10 school-aged children (11%; 

6.4 million children) in the United States 

have received a diagnosis of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 

from a health care provider (1). The 

percentage of children diagnosed with 

ADHD increased steadily from 1997 to 

2006 (2), and increased 42% from 

2003–2004 to 2011–2012 (1). Reports 

of these increases in the diagnosed 

prevalence of ADHD have resulted in 

discussions about the validity of ADHD 

diagnoses in the United States more 

generally (3). Describing the diagnostic 

experiences of a representative sample of 

U.S. children with ADHD is an important 

step toward understanding how children 

are diagnosed with ADHD in the United 

States and helps to inform efforts that 

seek to ensure that best practices are used 

in the evaluation and diagnosis of the 

disorder. 

Recommendations for the evaluation 

and diagnosis of ADHD are similar 

across the American Academy of 

Pediatrics’ (AAP) immediate past and 

current clinical guidelines for ADHD 

(4,5). These best practices guidelines 

recommend performing a diagnostic 

evaluation for ADHD using criteria from 

the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of 

Mental Disorders (6,7) and assessing the 

extent of the child’s impairment and the 

pervasiveness of the impairment across 

multiple settings, while collecting 

information from multiple informants 

(e.g., parents, teachers, and other adults 

involved in the child’s care). The most 

recent guidelines also include the 

recommendation to involve the child as 

an informant in the evaluation process, as 

appropriate (5).

This report presents a national 

description of the ADHD diagnostic 

experience as reported by U.S. parents, 

with a focus on assessing the alignment 

between parent-reported characteristics 

of the diagnostic experience and AAP’s 

recommendations for the evaluation and 

diagnosis of ADHD. Comparisons are 

made between the experiences of children 

diagnosed before and after the age most 

children enter school, given the special 

considerations for diagnosing a child 

under age 6 (5).
Page 2 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015

Methods

The data source for this report is the 

2014 National Survey of the Diagnosis 

and Treatment of ADHD and Tourette 

Syndrome (NS–DATA), a follow-up 

to the 2011–2012 National Survey of 

Children’s Health (NSCH). NSCH was 

a nationally representative, randomdigit-dial telephone (both landline 

and cell phone) survey of households 

with children aged 0–17 in the United 

States, which examined the physical 

and emotional health of children. 

NS–DATA was a follow-up telephone 

survey conducted 2–3 years later and 

designed to collect information on 

the early experiences associated with 

the emergence and ultimate diagnosis 

and treatment of ADHD and Tourette 

syndrome (TS). NSCH and NS–DATA 

were conducted by the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 

National Center for Health Statistics 

(NCHS) as modules of the State and 

Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey 

(SLAITS). NS–DATA was sponsored by 

CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects 

and Developmental Disabilities and by 

NCHS.

Households eligible to be recontacted 

for NS–DATA had children aged 2–15 

at the time of NSCH whose parents 

or guardians (hereafter referred to as 

parents) completed NSCH and reported 

that they had once been told by a doctor 

or other health care provider that their 

child had ADHD or TS. Respondents for 

NS–DATA had to be currently living in 

the same household as the sampled child 

and be knowledgeable about the child’s 

health, but they did not need to be the 

NSCH respondent. NS–DATA consists of 

two interview modules: one administered 

to parents of children ever having ADHD, 

and the other administered to parents 

of children ever having TS. Parents 

whose children had both conditions were 

administered both interview modules. 

A total of 2,976 ADHD and 115 TS 

interviews were completed from January 

to June 2014. The present report explores 

data from the ADHD module. 

The ADHD module included 

questions about the diagnostic experience 

of when the sample child was first 

diagnosed with the disorder, presence 

of co-occurring disorders, medication 

and behavioral treatment for ADHD, 

medication management and adherence, 

and presence of ADHD symptoms and 

impairment. Specific questions examined 

in the present report include age at 

diagnosis, type of diagnosing provider, 

first individual concerned about the 

sample child’s behavior, and individuals 

involved in the child’s diagnostic 

experience.

The sampled child’s ADHD 

diagnosis was confirmed during the 

NS–DATA screener (initial screening 

portion of the interview), when parents 

were asked, “Has a doctor or other health 

care provider ever told you that your 

child had ADHD or ADD?” If a parent 

could not confirm the ADHD diagnosis, 

the child was not eligible for NS–DATA. 

This screener question mirrored the 

phrasing of the 2011–2012 NSCH 

question when parents were asked, 

“Please tell me if a doctor or other health 

care provider ever told you that your 

child had Attention Deficit Disorder or 

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, 

that is ADD or ADHD, even if he or she 

does not have the condition now.” 

Estimates in this statistical analysis 

are weighted by the NS–DATA sampling 

weight, which is based on the NSCH 

sampling weight with adjustments 

for known survey response biases 

and further adjustments to ensure that 

weighted estimates match demographic 

control totals of the noninstitutionalized 

population of children ever diagnosed 

with ADHD between ages 2 and 15 

from the 2011–2012 NSCH. As such, 

all weighted estimates shown in this 

report are intended to produce national 

estimates of the noninstitutionalized 

population of U.S. children with ADHD 

as of the 2011–2012 NSCH. Sampling 

weights were adjusted to account for 

differential probabilities of selection, 

nonresponse, and noncoverage. All 

differences between children diagnosed 

with ADHD before age 6 and those 

diagnosed at ages 6 and over were tested 

using bivariate logistic regression. All 

differences with a p value less than 0.05 

were considered statistically significant. 

Statistical analyses were conducted using 

Stata 13.1 (8).

The NS–DATA response rate was 

47.2%. Accounting for the 23.0% overall 

NSCH response rate, the overall 

NS–DATA response rate was 10.9%. 

When only noncooperation among 

successfully recontacted eligible 

households was examined, more than 

four out of five eligible households 

(80.8%) completed the survey.

Estimates based on telephone 

surveys with low response rates may 

be unreliable due to selection biases 

resulting from sampling, nonresponse, 

lack of coverage of households without 

telephones, and respondent classification 

and reporting errors. However, sample 

weights were calculated in accordance 

with best practices for sample surveys, 

which included adjustments for 

known demographic correlates of 

nonresponse that have been shown to 

minimize the potential for nonresponse 

bias. Furthermore, the demographic 

composition of the population of children 

ever diagnosed with ADHD based on 

NS–DATA was compared with that of 

children ever diagnosed with the disorder 

based on the 2011–2012 NSCH and the 

2011 and 2012 National Health Interview 

Survey, with no differences found 

(estimates not shown).

In addition, a nonresponse bias 

analysis was performed, which suggested 

that, although the potential for bias 

cannot be ruled out, nonresponse bias in 

weighted estimates is likely smaller than 

sampling error (for details, see Technical 

Notes at the end of this report).

For more information on NSCH and 

NS–DATA, including sample design, data 

collection procedures, and questionnaire 

content, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/

nchs/slaits.htm.

Results

Parents were asked how old their 

child was “when you were first told by a 

doctor or other health care provider that 

he/she had ADHD?” The median age at 

ADHD diagnosis was 7 years, and about 

one in three children (30.7%) was 

diagnosed before age 6 (Figure 1). 

Approximately three out of four children 

(76.1%) were diagnosed with ADHD 

before age 9.

Parents were instructed to “think 

about a time before their child’s ADHD 

diagnosis” in order to provide 

information on the “first person who was 

concerned with their child’s behavior, 
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015 Page 3

Figure 1. Child’s age when parent was first told that child had ADHD, among children who 

were aged 2–15 years in 2011–2012 and had a diagnosis of ADHD: United States, 2014

 

attention or performance.” For about two 

out of three children diagnosed with 

ADHD overall (64.7%), and for three out 

of four diagnosed before age 6 (74.5%), 

the first individual concerned about the 

child’s behavior, attention, or 

performance was a family member, 

which could include a parent (Figure 2). 

Relative to children diagnosed at younger 

ages, those diagnosed at older ages were 

more likely to have had concern first 

expressed by someone at school or 

daycare (35.3%; p < 0.001), but less 

likely to have had concern expressed first 

by a family member (60.5%; p < 0.001) 

or other individual (4.2%; p < 0.05).

The type of health care provider 

who first told parents that their child 

had ADHD was also examined (Figure 3).

Approximately one-half of children 

with ADHD were first diagnosed by 

a primary care provider, including a 

pediatrician (39.0%) or general health 

physician (14.1%). Approximately one 

in four children diagnosed with ADHD 

before age 6 (23.7%) was first diagnosed 

by a psychiatrist; when diagnosed at an 

older age, children were less likely to be 

diagnosed by a psychiatrist 

Figure 2. Individual first concerned about child’s behavior, attention, or performance, 

among children who were aged 2–15 years in 2011–2012 and had a diagnosis of ADHD, by 

child’s age at diagnosis: United States, 2014

 

(15.6%; p < 0.01). Approximately one 

in six children diagnosed at ages 6 and 

over (15.7%) was first diagnosed by 

a psychologist; when diagnosed at a 

younger age, children were less likely to 

be diagnosed by a psychologist (10.8%; 

p < 0.05). Children were equally likely 

to be diagnosed by a pediatrician, 

general health physician, or neurologist, 

regardless of age at ADHD diagnosis.

Parents were asked a series of 

questions about the methods used by 

the diagnosing provider to assess their 

child for ADHD. They were also asked 

to recall whether a series of tools or 

methods were used by the diagnosing 

provider to “ask about symptoms of 

ADHD and their impact on the child” 

(Figure 4). 

Behavior rating scales or checklists 

were used for about 9 out of 10 children 

assessed for ADHD (89.9%), and this 

did not differ by age at diagnosis. For 

nearly all children, the diagnostic process 

included a conversation with a parent 

about their child’s behavior (96.3%). 

These conversations were used less 

frequently among children diagnosed at 

ages 6 and over (p < 0.01), although the 

difference was small.
Page 4 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015

Figure 3. Type of health care provider who first told parent that child had ADHD, among 

children who were aged 2–15 years in 2011–2012 and had a diagnosis of ADHD, by child’s 

age at diagnosis: United States, 2014

 

The majority of children diagnosed 

with ADHD (68.0%) had undergone 

neuropsychological testing. More than 

three-quarters of children diagnosed 

before age 6 (76.4%), and nearly 

two-thirds diagnosed at ages 6 and 

over (64.3%), had received these 

psychological tests. Neuropsychological 

testing and medical tests were used 

significantly less frequently among 

children diagnosed at ages 6 and over, 

compared with those diagnosed at 

younger ages. Approximately one in three 

children (30.0%) received neurological 

imaging or laboratory tests as part of 

the diagnostic assessment, and this was 

more common among children diagnosed 

before age 6 (41.8%, compared with 

25.0% for those aged 6 and over; 

p < 0.001). 

Parents were also asked a series 

of questions about which individuals 

the diagnosing provider collected 

information from in order to assess the 

child for ADHD (Figure 5). This could 

include individuals from the family, 

as well as those who were part of the 

child’s community. Children were 

Figure 4. Methods used to assess for ADHD, among children who were aged 2–15 years in 2011–2012 and had a diagnosis of ADHD, by 

child’s age at diagnosis: United States, 2014

 
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015 Page 5

Figure 5. Individuals from whom information was collected to assess child for ADHD, among children who were aged 2–15 years in 

2011–2012 and had a diagnosis of ADHD, by child’s age at diagnosis: United States, 2014

 

typically included in this diagnostic 

process, including both children 

diagnosed before age 6 (81.3%) and those 

diagnosed at ages 6 and over (85.9%). 

Children first diagnosed before age 6 

were more likely than those diagnosed 

at ages 6 and over to have childcare 

providers (39.3%; p < 0.001) or other 

community members (12.6%; p < 0.05) 

involved in the diagnostic process, 

whereas children first diagnosed at ages 

6 and over were more likely to have 

teachers or school staff involved in the 

diagnostic process (82.4%; p < 0.01). For 

approximately four out of five children 

overall diagnosed with ADHD, and for 

children diagnosed before age 6 (78.6%) 

and at ages 6 and over (83.4%), adults 

outside the family provided input to the 

diagnostic process; this difference by 

age at diagnosis was not statistically 

significant. Children were equally likely 

to be involved in the diagnostic process, 

regardless of age at ADHD diagnosis.

Summary and 

Discussion

This report has presented a set of 

indicators related to the diagnosis of 

ADHD in a representative sample of U.S. 

children diagnosed with the disorder as 

of 2011–2012. According to data from 

NS–DATA, the median age at ADHD 

diagnosis was 7 years. About one in 

three children was diagnosed before age 

6—an age at which there are few valid 

diagnostic tools to support diagnosis 

(5,9).

Parents indicated that the first 

individual concerned about the child’s 

behavior, attention, or performance 

was most often a family member, with 

someone at school or daycare being the 

first person concerned for approximately 

one-third of children with ADHD in this 

study. 

A variety of health care providers 

were involved in the ADHD diagnostic 

process, including pediatricians and 

general health physicians, psychiatrists, 

neurologists, and psychologists. About 

one-half of children with ADHD were 

first diagnosed by either a pediatrician or 

a general health physician, with the single 

largest group being those diagnosed by a 

pediatrician. 

The age at diagnosis was related to 

the type of diagnosing provider. Children 

diagnosed at ages 6 and over were less 

likely than those diagnosed before age 6 

to be diagnosed by a psychiatrist; these 

children were more likely to be diagnosed 

by a psychologist than younger children 

with ADHD. 

Consistent with best practices (5), 

behavior rating scales were used for the 

vast majority of children (about 9 out of 

10) assessed for ADHD. Additionally, 

more than three-quarters diagnosed 

before age 6 and nearly two-thirds 

diagnosed at ages 6 and over had 

undergone neuropsychological testing. 

For the majority of children (81.9%), at 

least one adult outside the family was 

involved in the diagnostic process. This 

suggests that one out of five children had 

a diagnosing provider who relied only 

on information collected from family 

members, which is inconsistent with the 

AAP guideline to collect information 
Page 6 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015

from individuals across multiple settings, 

including outside the home. 

This report characterizes select 

components of the ADHD diagnostic 

process among a national sample of 

children diagnosed with the disorder, 

including methods of assessment and 

assessment across multiple informants. 

These findings may be used to inform 

assessments of the alignment between 

clinical practice and the 2011 AAP 

clinical practice guidelines for ADHD 

(5). Study findings do suggest that 

among children diagnosed with ADHD 

as of 2011–2012, diagnosing providers 

regularly used behavior rating scales and 

checklists. 

Strengths and limitations

This study used data from the largest 

national survey to date dedicated to the 

diagnostic and treatment experiences of 

children diagnosed with ADHD. Because 

of its size and breadth, the survey data 

allowed for the presentation of a set of 

diagnostic indicators as a function of age 

at diagnosis. 

Despite these strengths, the data 

and results presented in this report are 

subject to several limitations. One set 

of limitations is related to the time that 

elapsed between the identification of 

sample children who have ever received 

an ADHD diagnosis in the 2011–2012 

NSCH and the time of the follow-up 

interview in 2014 (median was 29 

months). As a result, only children 

who had received an ADHD diagnosis 

as of 2011–2012 were included in the 

eligible population; children who had 

received a diagnosis more recently are 

not represented in this followback survey 

population. Additionally, parents were 

reporting on a diagnostic experience that 

took place a minimum of 2 years earlier 

and thus may be subject to some degree 

of recall bias. 

Other limitations are that the 

parent-reported information has not been 

validated against medical records or 

clinical notes, and the results are limited 

to the noninstitutionalized population 

of children with ADHD, excluding any 

children living in psychiatric hospitals, 

juvenile justice centers, and other 

institutions. A final limitation is the 

survey’s low response rate; for more 

information, please refer to the Technical 

Notes.

References

1. Visser SN, Danielson ML, Bitsko RH,

Holbrook JR, Kogan MD, Ghandour RM,

et al. Trends in the parent-report of health

care provider-diagnosed and medicated

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder:

United States, 2003–2011. J Am Acad

Child Adolesc Psychiatry 53(1):

34–46.e2. 2014.

2. Pastor PN, Reuben CA. Diagnosed

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

and learning disability: United States,

2004–2006. National Center for Health

Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(237). 2008.

Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/series/sr_10/Sr10_237.pdf.

3. Walkup JT, Stossel L, Rendleman

R. Beyond rising rates: Personalized

medicine and public health approaches to

the diagnosis and treatment of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Am Acad

Child Adolesc Psychiatry 53(1):14–6.

2014.

4. American Academy of Pediatrics.

Clinical practice guideline: Diagnosis and

evaluation of the child with attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder. Pediatrics

105(5):1158–70. 2000.

5. American Academy of Pediatrics.

ADHD: Clinical practice guideline for

the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment

of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

in children and adolescents. Pediatrics

128(5):1007–22. 2011.

6. American Psychiatric Association. 

Diagnostic and statistical manual of

mental disorders, 4th ed., text revision

(DSM–IV–TR). Washington, DC: APA. 

2000.

7. American Psychiatric Association. 

Diagnostic and statistical manual of

mental disorders, 5th ed. (DSM–V).

Washington, DC: APA. 2013.

8. StataCorp LP. Stata/SE (Release 13.1)

[computer software]. 2014.

9. McGoey K, DuPaul G, Haley E, Shelton

T. Parent and teacher ratings of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder in preschool:

The ADHD Rating Scale–IV preschool

version. J Psychopathol Behav Assess

29(4):269–76. 2007.
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015 Page 7

Technical Notes

Response rate and analysis 

of nonresponse

The overall response rate for the 

2014 National Survey of the Diagnosis 

and Treatment of ADHD and Tourette 

Syndrome (NS–DATA) is the product 

of the response rate for NS–DATA and 

the response rate for the 2011–2012 

National Survey of Children’s Health 

(NSCH). Individually, the response rate 

for NS–DATA was 47.2%, while the 

response rate for NSCH was 23.0%, for 

a combined response rate for the two 

surveys of 10.9%. The low response 

rate is partly due to the inclusion of 

cell phone samples in both surveys, to 

provide better coverage of the population 

of children. When only noncooperation 

among successfully recontacted eligible 

households was examined, more than 

four out of five eligible households 

(80.8%) completed the survey.

To reduce the potential for 

nonresponse bias, the sampling weights 

were adjusted for nonresponse and 

further adjusted to match external 

demographic control totals for the 

population of children with ADHD 

who were aged 2–15 in the 2011–2012 

NSCH. Because data from NSCH were 

available for both NS–DATA respondents 

and nonrespondents, it was possible to 

adjust the weights precisely by those 

characteristics that differentiated 

NS–DATA respondents and 

nonrespondents. Nonresponse bias 

analysis was conducted to examine 

estimates before and after the 

nonresponse weighting adjustment. 

Results indicated that bias was found 

to greatly decrease after the weighting 

adjustment, and estimated biases using 

the final weights tended to be smaller 

than sampling error. 

These results indicate that 

differences between survey respondents 

and survey nonrespondents should 

not have had a major impact on the 

conclusions in this report; however, the 

potential for such impact cannot be ruled 

out completely. 

Definitions of terms

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity 

disorder (ADHD) diagnosis—Children 

included in the current report as ever 

having ADHD had parents or guardians 

who answered in the affirmative to 

two survey questions. The first, which 

appeared in the 2011–2012 NSCH, 

asked respondents to “Please tell me if a 

doctor or other health care provider ever 

told you that your child had Attention 

Deficit Disorder or Attention-Deficit/

Hyperactivity Disorder, that is ADD or 

ADHD, even if he or she does not have 

the condition now.” The second question 

was part of the 2014 NS–DATA screener 

and asked the respondent (who did not 

need to be the NSCH respondent), “Has 

a doctor or other health care provider 

ever told you that your child had ADHD 

or ADD?” Children whose parents 

or guardians refused to answer either 

question, or who said they did not know 

the answer to either question, were not 

identified as ever having had ADHD.

Diagnosing health care 

professional—Respondents were asked, 

“What type of doctor or other health 

care provider first told you that [your 

child] had ADHD?” Responses were 

coded into 18 provider categories. For 

this report, providers were categorized in 

the following groups: (a) pediatricians, 

which include developmental or 

behavioral pediatricians; (b) general 

health physicians, which include family 

practice doctors; (c) psychologists 

outside of school; (d) psychiatrists 

(medical doctors); (e) neurologists; and 

(f) other providers, which include nurse 

practitioners, occupational therapists, 

physical therapists, speech therapists, 

team of professionals or multidisciplinary 

team, doctors of unknown specialty, 

school psychologists, school counselors, 

school nurses and teachers, and other 

health care professionals.

Concerned individuals—

Respondents were instructed to “Think 

about the time before [your child]’s 

ADHD diagnosis” and then were asked, 

“Who was the first person who was 

concerned with [your child]’s behavior, 

attention, or performance?” Concerned 

individuals were categorized as follows: 

(a) “you or another family member,” 

(b) “someone at your child’s school or 

daycare,” (c) “a doctor or healthcare 

professional not at your child’s school,” 

and (d) “someone else.” In this report, 

responses c and d were grouped into one 

category.

Diagnostic testing methods—

NS–DATA contained a series of questions 

asking respondents whether specific 

methods had been used to assess for 

ADHD. These included (a) “a rating 

scale or checklist about the child’s 

behavior”; (b) “a conversation with 

you about the child’s behavior”; (c) “a 

series of tests to better understand how 

the child learns, reads, understands and 

processes information, also known as 

psychological tests”; and (d) “medical 

tests, such as an EEG, CT scan, MRI, or 

blood tests to test for lead exposure.” If 

necessary, respondents were provided 

a definition for medical tests. Medical 

tests are typically used to rule out other 

conditions.

Individuals involved in assessment—

NS–DATA also contained a series of 

questions asking respondents whether 

“the doctor, health care provider, or 

school professional who diagnosed 

[your child] with ADHD collect[ed] 

information” from a series of individuals. 

Individuals were categorized as follows: 

(a) “[the child] himself/herself”; (b) 

“school teachers or other school staff”; 

(c) “childcare providers, such as a 

daycare teacher, nanny, or babysitter”; 

and (d) “other community members, 

such as a coach, music or dance teacher, 

religious leader, scout leader, or other 

group leader.” In this report, an additional 

group was formed based on responses 

b–d and was labeled “at least one adult 

outside the family.”
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 81  September 3, 2015

Suggested citation

Visser SN, Zablotsky B, Holbrook JR, et 

al. Diagnostic experiences of children with 

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. 

National health statistics reports; no 81. 

Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health 

Statistics. 2015.

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