Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Burden of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Indian Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To determine the pooled prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Indian children.

Methods

The searching of published literature was conducted in different databases (PubMed, Ovid SP, and EMBASE). The authors also tried to acquire information from the unpublished literature about the prevalence of ADHD. A screening was done to include eligible original studies, community or school-based, cross-sectional or cohort, reporting the prevalence of ADHD in children aged ≤ 18 y in India. Retrieved data were analyzed using STATA MP12 (Texas College station).

Results

Of 729 studies retrieved by searching different databases, 183 studies were removed as duplicates, and 546 titles and abstracts were screened. After screening, 19 studies were included for quantitative analysis. Subgroup analysis was conducted with respect to their setting (school-based/community-based). Fifteen studies performed in a school-based setting showed 75.1 (95% CI 56.0–94.1) pooled prevalence of ADHD per 1000 children of 4–19 y of age. In community-based settings, the pooled prevalence per 1000 children surveyed was 18.6 (95% CI 8.8–28.4). The overall pooled prevalence of ADHD was observed as 63.2 (95% CI 49.2–77.1) in 1000 children surveyed. Significant heterogeneity was observed in the systemic review.

Conclusions

ADHD accounts for a significant health burden, and understanding its burden is crucial for effective health policy-making for educational intervention and rehabilitation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Arlington VA. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. American Psychiatric Association. 2013. Available at: https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/Practice/DSM/APA_DSM-5-ADHD.pdf. Accessed on 25th Jan 2021.

  2. Dulcan M. Practice parameters for the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Academy of child &Adolescent Psychiatry. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1997;36:85S–121S.

  3. Polanczyk G, De Lima MS, Horta BL, Biederman J, Rohde LA. The worldwide prevalence of ADHD: a systematic review and meta regression analysis. Am J Psychiatry. 2007;164:942–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Thomas R, Sanders S, Doust J, Beller E, Glasziou P. Prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2015;135:e994-1001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bruchmüller K, Margraf J, Schneider S. Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2012;80:128–38.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Batstra L, Hadders-Algra M, Nieweg E, Van Tol D, Pijl SJ, Frances A. Childhood emotional and behavioural problems: reducing overdiagnosis without risking undertreatment. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2012;54:492–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Charach A, Dashti B, Carson P, et al. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: effectiveness of treatment in at-risk pre-schoolers; long-term effectiveness in all ages; and variability in prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment. 2011. Available at: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/reports/final.cfm. Accessed on 7th June 2013.

  8. Batstra L, Frances A. Holding the line against diagnostic inflation in psychiatry. Psychother Psychosom. 2012;81:5–10

  9. Boyle MH. Guidelines for evaluating prevalence studies. Evid Based Mental Health. 1998;1:37–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Loney PL, Chambers LW, Bennett KJ, Roberts JG, Stratford PW. Critical appraisal of the health research literature: prevalence or incidence of a health problem. Chronic Dis Can. 1998;19:170–6.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Sharma P, Gupta RK, Banal R, et al. Prevalence and correlates of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) risk factors among school children in a rural area of North India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2020;9:115–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Catherine TG, Robert NG, Mala KK, Kanniammal C, Arullapan J. Assessment of prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among school children in selected schools. Indian J Psychiatry. 2019;61:232–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Suthar N, Garg N, VermaK, Singhal A, Singh H, Baniya G. Prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in primary school children: a cross-sectional study. J Indian Assoc Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2018;14:74–88

  14. Ghosh P, Choudhury HA, Victor R. Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among primary school children in Cachar, Assam, North-East India. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2018;9:130–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Arora NK, Nair MKC, Gulati S, et al. Neurodevelopmental disorders in children aged 2–9 years: population-based burden estimates across five regions in India. PLoS Med. 2018;15.

  16. Ramya HS, Goutham AS, Lakshmi V Pandit. Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in school going children aged between 5–12 years in Bengaluru. Curr Pediatr Res. 2017;21:321–326

  17. Gupta A. Prevalence and symptomatology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in school children. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016;26:S718. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-977x(16)31862-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Mannapur R, MunirathnamG, Hyarada M, Bylagoudar SSS. Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among urban school children. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2016;3:240–2.

  19. Jaisoorya TS, Beena KV, Beena M, et al. Prevalence and correlates of self-reported ADHD symptoms in children attending school in India. J Atten Disord. 2020;24:1711–5.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Manjunath R, Kishor M, Kulkarni P, Shrinivasa BM, Sathyamurthy S. Magnitude of attention deficit hyper kinetic disorder among school children of Mysore city. International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal. 2016;6:1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Juneja M, Sairam S, Jain R. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescent school children. Indian Pediatr. 2014;51:151–2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Venkata JA, Panicker AS. Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in primary school children. Indian J Psychiatry. 2013;55:338–42.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Patil RN, Nagaonkar SN, Shah NB, Bhat TS. A cross-sectional study of common psychiatric morbidity in children aged 5 to 14 years in an urban slum. J Family Med Prim Care. 2013;2:164–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Ajinkya S, Kaur D, Gursale A, Jadhav P. Prevalence of parent-rated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and associated parent-related factors in primary school children of Navi Mumbai- a school based study. Indian J Pediatr. 2013;80:207–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Suvarna BS, Kamath A. Prevalence of attention deficit disorder among preschool age children. Nepal Med Coll J. 2009;11:1–4.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Pillai A, Patel V, Cardozo P, Goodman R, Weiss HA, Andrew G. Non-traditional lifestyles and prevalence of mental disorders in adolescents in Goa. India Br J Psychiatry. 2008;192:45–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Srinath S, Girimaji SC, Gururaj G, et al. Epidemiological study of child & adolescent psychiatric disorders in urban & rural areas of Bangalore. India Indian J Med Res. 2005;122:67–79.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Malhotra S, Kohli A, Arun P. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in school children in Chandigarh. India Indian J Med Res. 2002;116:21–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Gada M. A study of prevalence and pattern of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity in primary school children. Indian J Psychiatry. 1987;29:113–8.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Advanced Center of Evidence Based Child Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh for supporting this systematic review.

Funding

ICMR Advanced Centre for Evidence Based Child Health Phase 2, PGIMER, Chandigarh (Grant reference No 5/7/1668/CH/CAR/2019-RBMCH).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Anil Chauhan and Jitendra Kumar Sahu have equal contribution to this manuscript and share the first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Telemedicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Evidence Based Health Informatics Unit, Regional Resource Centre, Chandigarh, India

    Anil Chauhan, Nishant Jaiswal, Amit Agarwal & Meenu Singh

  2. Pediatric Neurology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India

    Jitendra Kumar Sahu & Singanamalla Bhanudeep

  3. ICMR Advanced Center for Evidence Based Child Health, Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER, Chandigarh, 160012, India

    Manvi Singh, Pranita Pradhan & Meenu Singh

  4. Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India

    Meenu Singh

Authors
  1. Anil Chauhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jitendra Kumar Sahu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Manvi Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nishant Jaiswal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Amit Agarwal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Singanamalla Bhanudeep
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Pranita Pradhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Meenu Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The studies searched through different databases were independently screened for their titles and abstracts by AC, SB, and JKS. The full texts of eligible studies so identified were further analyzed or screened by AC and MaS for their inclusion. PP contributed in searching the literature for this systematic review. Any discrepancies were resolved by consulting MS. AA, AC, JKS, and MaS extracted data independently from eligible studies. AC and JKS independently assessed the quality of the included studies by using a validated quality assessment tool. The data were analyzed by NJ, AC, and AA using “STATA MP12 (Texas, College Station).” MS is the guarantor for this paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Meenu Singh.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

None.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chauhan, A., Sahu, J.K., Singh, M. et al. Burden of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Indian Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Indian J Pediatr 89, 570–578 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-021-03999-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-021-03999-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation