What Are the Hidden Benefits of ADHD Medication?

Summary: While most people take ADHD medication to improve concentration and focus, the hidden benefits of ADHD medication are primarily associated with reduction in several types of adverse events.

Key Points:

  • Stimulant medication is the most common first-line treatment for children, teens, and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • Expected outcomes associated with ADHD typically involve improved concentration and focus
  • Patients often take ADHD medication to improve academic achievement, work performance, and personal organization/efficacy
  • Unexpected outcomes revealed by new research include improvements in metrics associated with personal safety and injury

Trends in ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment

In the peer-reviewed journal article “Increased Prescribing of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medication and Real-World Outcomes Over Time,” a group of researchers in Sweden designed a study to answer the following question:

Do the real-world benefits of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications in reducing adverse outcomes change as prescription rates increase in the population?

Most people are familiar with the fact that rates of diagnosis for behavioral disorders such as ADHD and developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased significantly over the past 20 years. Alongside the increases in diagnosis for ADHD, prescriptions for ADHD medications have also increased significantly over the past twenty years.

Despite these increases, no new research has examined how they’ve impacted the real-world benefits of ADHD medication – until the release of this new study in Sweden.

About the Study: ADHD Medication and Adverse Outcomes

Using data from 247,420 patients with ADHD collected from the Swedish National Patient Register, the research team assessed the relationship between taking ADHD medication and rates of the following adverse outcomes:

  • Self-harm
  • Unintentional injury
  • Traffic crashes
  • Crime

When we say hidden benefits of ADHD medication, these are the categories of benefit we mean. While some patients may initiate use of ADHD medication to reduce mental health problems such as self-harming behavior and/or suicidal ideation, the largest percentage of patients who initiate ADHD medication have different goals in mind. Their goals, in most cases, include improvements in concentration, focus, and personal organization related to academic achievement, work performance, and relationships.

Before we share the results of the study, we’ll take a moment to review the most recent statistics on rates of ADHD medication and diagnosis among children, teens, and adults around in the U.S. and around the world.

ADHD Medication Use and Treatment: What Research Says

The authors of the study highlight the most relevant data published in recent decades related to ADHD medication and treatment, with a focus on meta-analyses with large sample sizes, i.e. studies that review sets of studies including thousands of people, as opposed to those with data on tens or hundreds of people.

Studies of this size and scope are useful in that they allow us to make population-level generalizations about a particular topic and draw conclusions that apply to most people with a specific mental health disorder, problem, or challenge. This study included data on over almost a quarter million people, which makes it perfect for our purposes: learning how we can help people with ADHD.

We’ll start with the data on prescription ADHD medication among adults.

Increase in ADHD Medication, Worldwide, Past Two Decades

2015-2019, previous analysis on data from 64 countries, by prescription rate:
    • Increase of 9.7%
During the study period in Sweden, 2006-2020, by prescription rate:
    • Among children: 0.6% to 2.8%
      • 400% increase
    • Among adults: 0.1% to 1.3%
      • 900% increase
2006-2016, increase of ADHD medication by total weight, U.S.:
    • All prescriptions: 7.9 tons to 20.0 tons
      • 153% increase

In addition, the authors cite a study – read it here – that indicates the U.S. reports less than 5 percent of ADHD diagnoses but consumes 83.1% of consumption of ADHD medication worldwide.

Next, we’ll shift gears slightly and include data on ADHD prevalence as well as treatment. This set – from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publication Data and Statistics on ADHD – includes figures on ADHD prevalence and treatment among children and teens

ADHD Among U.S. Children and Teens, Age 3-17: Facts and Figures

  • Diagnosis:
    • ~11.4%, or ~7 million
  • By gender:
    • Girls: 8%
    • Boys: 15%
  • By race/ethnicity:
    • Asian: 4%
    • Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 6%
    • Hispanic: 10%
    • American Indian/Alaska Native children: 10%
    • Black and White: 12%
  • Presence of co-occurring conditions:
    • Any co-occurring condition: 78%
    • Behavior/conduct: ~50%
    • Anxiety: ~40%
  • Treatment:
    • Took medication: 53.6%
    • Received counseling/therapy: 44.4%
    • Medication or counseling: 58.3%

Next, we’ll look at prevalence and treatment data from the CDC report “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnosis, Treatment, and Telehealth Use in Adults,” published in 2024. We’ll share the diagnosis and treatment data, but not the telehealth data.

ADHD Among U.S. Adults: Facts and Figures

  • Diagnosis:
    • ~6.0%, or ~15.5 million
  • Age at diagnosis:
    • Over 18: 55.9%
    • Under age 18: 44.1%
  • Treatment rates, lifetime:
    • No treatment: 36.5%
    • Medication and therapy/counseling: 35.2%
  • Treatment details, past year:
    • Received prescription for ADHD medication: 50.4%
    • Took prescription ADHD medication: 33.4%
    • Had problems filling prescription due to shortages: 71.5%

With all that information in mind, which outlines the size and scope of the question at the center of this article, let’s take a look at what the researchers found.

Results: Benefits of ADHD Medication by Real-World Outcomes

In the data below, the figure with the decimal point represents the incident risk ratio (IRR) for using ADHD medication compared to not using medication among people over age 16 with a clinical ADHD diagnosis. An IRR below one (1) means reduced risk, while an IRR over one (1) means increased risk.

Hidden Benefits of ADHD Medication: Reduced Risk of Adverse Events

Self-harm:

    • 2006-2010: 0.79
    • 2011-2015: 0.95
    • 2016-2020: 0.80

Unintentional Injury:

    • 2006-2010: 0.88
    • 2011-2015: 0.92
    • 2016-2020: 0.94

Traffic Crashes:

    • 2006-2010: 0.74
    • 2011-2015: 0.83
    • 2016-2020: 0.88

Crime:

    • 2006-2010: 0.75
    • 2011-2015: 0.80
    • 2016-2020: 0.77

Here’s how the study authors describe the results:

“In this longitudinal population-based study of 247 420 individuals using ADHD medication between 2006 and 2020, we consistently found ADHD medication to be associated with lower rates of self-harm, unintentional injury, traffic crashes, and crime across all analyzed time periods, age groups, and sexes.”

When we look closely at this data, we see two things. First, the hidden benefits of ADHD medication persisted across areas of adverse outcomes and across all time periods analyzed, despite a four hundred percent increase in the number of patients receiving medication. Second, the hidden benefits of ADHD medication gradually decreased over time, but remained significant for unintentional injury, car crashes, and crime.

The research team explains the gradual weakening of the effect over time as follows:

“These findings suggest that the declining strength of the associations of ADHD medication and real-world outcomes could be attributed to the expansion of prescriptions to a broader group of individuals having fewer symptoms or impairment.”

This is a logical explanation and doesn’t diminish the impact of the overall results, which indicate that ADHD medication is clearly associated with positive outcomes most people don’t consider when they think about medication for ADHD: injuries, car crashes, and crime. The findings on self-harm are incredibly valuable for clinicians and patients to understand. However, while positive – and in some cases, potentially life-saving – that outcome falls into the category of expected outcomes, rather than hidden benefit, as reducing impulsive behaviors, including self-harm, is a stated goal of many patient who use ADHD medication.

About ADHD Treatment for Children, Teens, and Adults

It’s important to understand that treatment for ADHD in adults is similar to treatment for ADHD in children, and may include:

It’s also important to understand at least three things about ADHD treatment:

  1. It works. Patients with ADHD who commit to treatment with medication or behavioral counseling can learn to manage their symptoms and reduce or eliminate the disruption they cause at school, at work, and in relationships.
  2. In some cases, the side effects of stimulant medication, such as insomnia, reduced appetite, and increased heart rate and/or blood pressure, are unacceptable to patients with ADHD. For these patients, a combination of behavioral counseling and nonstimulant medication can be effective.
  3. For adults, professional support from an ADHD coach can help integrate benefits of medication with the benefits of behavioral counseling and lead to significant reduction of ADHD symptoms.

One last thing: the earlier a person with ADHD – whether child, adolescent, or adult – gets professional, evidence-based support, the better the long-term outcome.

Resources: Help For Patients, Help for Families

If you or someone you know needs professional support for ADHD, please call us here at Crownview Medical today.

In addition, please refer to these reliable and reputable online resources:

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