ADHD diagnoses among children and adolescents in Hesse increased by 24 percent in 2024

The number of children and young people in Hesse with a new diagnosis of ADHD has increased significantly. The increase in 2024 compared to the previous year was 24 percent, as shown in the current children and youth report from the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit. According to the DAK's projections, around 15,400 young people nationwide were diagnosed with ADHD for the first time. This puts Hesse well above the national average of 16 percent. ADHD is an attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

“In the future, I expect a further increase in the number of newly diagnosed attention disorders with and without hyperactivity,” said the state chairman of the professional association of pediatricians and adolescent doctors (BVKJ) in Hesse, Ralf Moebus. Parents today are often more burdened and often have fewer resources to offer their children a supportive learning environment at home. Increasing, uncritical media consumption could also reinforce the development.

Boys especially affected

According to the report, around twice as many boys (10,200) as girls (5,200) were affected by a new diagnosis. However, compared to the previous year, girls show higher rates of increase with an increase of around 32 percent than boys with 20 percent. “This shows that ADHD was underdiagnosed in them for a long time, as the symptoms are often less noticeable than in boys,” said Moebus.

The increase affects all age groups, said DAK-Gesundheit. The most commonly affected are primary school children between the ages of five and nine. The data shows that 4.8 percent of children and adolescents ages 3 to 17 receive medical care with an ADHD diagnosis.

For the current DAK special analysis as part of the children and youth report, the scientific team from Vandage and Bielefeld University examined billing data from around 85,800 children and young people up to and including 17 years of age who are insured with DAK-Gesundheit in Hesse.