Metrics details. This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of ADHD in adult psychiatric outpatients in several European countries. The prevalence of ADHD was Estimates from this study indicate that a relevant part of the psychiatric outpatient care population suffers from ADHD.
Peer Review reports. Adults with ADHD tend to suffer from major socioeconomic disadvantage [ 1 ], functional impairment [ 2 ], and a diminished quality of life [ 3 β 5 ]. Lower levels of education, higher levels of unemployment, and substance use, are known to be significantly associated with ADHD in adults [ 6 ]. Accidents [ 7 ], early parenthood [ 8 ], and difficulties in governing financial issues [ 9 ] are thought to be more prevalent in adults with ADHD than in the general population.
ADHD is much more prevalent in the prison population compared with nondelinquent controls [ 10 , 11 ]. ADHD is also associated with a number of comorbid psychiatric disorders, such as mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders [ 13 ]. Knowing the prevalence of ADHD in adult outpatient psychiatric care could help clinicians take this treatable disorder into consideration when evaluating their patients, enabling them to target both ADHD and comorbid condition s , and also to consider ADHD as a possible differential diagnosis.
There are a number of studies available regarding the prevalence of ADHD in the general population. For example, a meta-analysis by Simon and colleagues [ 14 ] determined the pooled prevalence of adults with ADHD to be 2. Slightly higher estimates of 3. Prevalence of ADHD is expected to be higher in the psychiatric outpatient population than in the general population, but only a few estimates are available.
Almeida Montes and colleagues [ 16 ] found in a psychiatric nonpsychotic outpatient sample in Mexico a prevalence of Therefore, to contribute to a better understanding of the pattern of clinical presentation of ADHD in adult mental health care, the primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of ADHD in adult outpatient psychiatric care in several European countries.
