Diagnostic and Medication Treatment Disparities in African American Children with ADHD: a Literature Review

Background Despite a national focus on achieving health equity, limited attention has been paid to behavioral and pediatric health disparities. As the most common pediatric neurobehavioral disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) provides an opportunity to assess the status of pedia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities 2022-10, Vol.9 (5), p.2027-2048
Main Authors: Glasofer, Amy, Dingley, Catherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
African Americans
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Children
Diagnosis
Diagnostic systems
Drug therapy
Drugs
Epidemiology
Ethnicity
Health behavior
Health disparities
Health status
Hyperactivity
Literature reviews
Medical diagnosis
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental health
Neurobehavioral functioning
Pediatrics
Quality of Life Research
Race
Social Inequality
Social Structure
Statistical analysis
Synthesis
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Summary:Background Despite a national focus on achieving health equity, limited attention has been paid to behavioral and pediatric health disparities. As the most common pediatric neurobehavioral disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) provides an opportunity to assess the status of pediatric behavior health disparities. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a synthesis of existing research on ADHD diagnostic and treatment disparities between African American and White children. Methods Studies were systematically identified through searches in PubMed, CINAHL, and APA PsycInfo using the terms attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, disparity, race, ethnicity, diagnosis, medication, and treatment. Summary calculations were conducted to report the proportions of studies with statistically significant differences in ADHD diagnosis and treatment between White and African American children, and to describe trends in disparities over time. Results Forty-one studies were included in this review. The majority of studies identified significant disparities in ADHD diagnosis and medication treatment between African American and White children. While diagnostic disparities show a trend toward reduction over time, a similar trend was not observed in medication treatment disparities. This synthesis provides a critique of the existing literature and recommendations for practice and future research.
ISSN:2197-3792
2196-8837
DOI:10.1007/s40615-021-01142-0