The global prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents: An umbrella review of meta-analyses

Background: Emerging epidemiological data suggest that hundreds of primary studies have examined the prevalence of ADHD in children and adolescents and dozens of systematic view and meta-analyses studies have been conducted on the subject. The purpose of this umbrella review is to provide a robust synthesis of evidence from these systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, PsychINFO, and Scopus to find pertinent studies. The study was preregistered with PROSPERO (CRD42023389704). The quality of the studies was assessed using a Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR). Prevalence estimates from the included studies were pooled using invariance variance weighted random-effect meta-analysis. Results: Thirteen meta-analytic systematic reviews (588 primary studies) with 3,277,590 participants were included in the final analysis. A random effect meta-analysis of these studies showed that the global prevalence of ADHD in children and adolescents was 8.0 % (95%CI 6.0–10 %). The prevalence estimate was twice higher in boys (10 %) compared to girls (5 %). Of the three subtypes of ADHD, the inattentive type of ADHD (ADHD-I) was found to be the most common type of ADHD followed by the hyperactive (ADHD-HI) and the combined types (ADHD-C). Conclusion: Findings from our compressive umbrella review suggest that ADHD is highly prevalent in children and adolescents with boys twice more likely to experience the disorder than girls. Our results underpin that priority should be given to preventing, early identifying, and treating ADHD in children and adolescents.