Surge in UK ADHD prescriptions driven by women, study suggests

Dramatic increase in women seeking treatment for ADHD in the UK, new study shows

The number of UK adults taking medication for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has risen twenty-fold since 2010, with women seeing the most "dramatic" increase, according to a major new study.

Researchers found that while only 0.01 per cent of Britons over 25 were medicated for ADHD in 2010, the figure surged to 0.2 per cent by 2023, marking the highest relative increase among all countries studied.

Experts, led by academics from the University of Oxford, said this represents "a more than 20-fold increase in females and 15-fold in males" of this age bracket.

The findings, which analysed electronic health records from the UK, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, highlight a shifting landscape in neurodiversity as adult diagnoses continue to climb following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trend is particularly sharp among women, where mirroring the national surge in the UK, medication rates for women over 25 rose from 0.01 per cent to 0.2 per cent.

This change has been attributed to a growing understanding about how the condition presents differently in women.

Whilst boys often show "hyperactive" symptoms, women frequently present with inattentiveness. The study emphasises that such gender-related socialisation has since led to a generation being overlooked in childhood, only to seek diagnoses later as adults.

However, the research also raised questions over long-term treatment. Despite the rise in prescriptions, only 31 per cent of UK patients remained on their medication after one year. In Germany, that figure dropped to a low of just 15 per cent.

Less than a third of people prescribed ADHD medication in the UK continue use after a year (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

This high dropout rate suggests many struggle to find the right balance with treatment. Interestingly, those who did persist often had a history of using antidepressants, suggesting patients with more complex mental health needs are the most likely to secure support.

Such clinical complexity indicates that ADHD rarely exists in a vacuum. Yet, despite these rising figures, the study’s researchers emphasise the condition remains significantly undertreated compared to the 3 per cent of adults globally estimated to have the condition.

The report concludes that while not everyone requires medication, the current gap between global prevalence and local treatment rates indicates that many patients are still failing to receive the clinical help they need.

These findings come as the NHS faces a crisis in neurodiversity services. With record-long waiting lists for assessments, many patients in the UK still face waits of several years to confirm a diagnosis and access any support.

Health officials warned today that without urgent investment in diagnostic services, the "substantial proportion" of adults currently missing out on treatment will continue to face significant barriers to both work and mental health stability.

The Lancet authors called for a radical rethink of how adult neurodiversity is managed, warning that the current "catch-up" in prescriptions is merely the tip of a much larger public health challenge facing the UK.