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ADHD prevalence estimates in Italian children and adolescents: a methodological issue

Overview of attention for article published in Italian Journal of Pediatrics, September 2018
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Title
ADHD prevalence estimates in Italian children and adolescents: a methodological issue
Published in
Italian Journal of Pediatrics, September 2018
DOI 10.1186/s13052-018-0545-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Laura Reale, Maurizio Bonati

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is recognized as the most common, and most studied, developmental age disorder. Basic information, such as the most appropriate case definition and the best way to evaluate the disorder's prevalence rate, however, remains an open issue. A comprehensive meta-analysis on the epidemiology of ADHD in Italy, which was lacking from the literature, was therefore performed to attempt to estimate the actual prevalence rate of ADHD, highlighting conceptual and quantitative differences between clinical-diagnosis and survey-based symptoms studies. The Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO databases, and the grey literature, were searched up to January 2018. The review was laid out in three main sections: an overall prevalence estimate, an epidemiological profile of ADHD symptoms, and an attempt to define the actual rate of ADHD diagnosis, as emerged from Italian studies. A total of 15 unique studies were included. These contributed to estimating the prevalence of ADHD in 67,838 subjects aged 5-17, representing 9 of the 20 regions (45%) of Italy. Overall, the pooled prevalence of ADHD was 2.9% (range: 1.1-16.7%). When distinguishing studies based on case definition, however, we found an average prevalence estimate, based on symptoms criteria, of 5.9% (range: 1.4 to 16.7%) and a best-estimate prevalence rate of 1.4% (range: 1.1 to 3.1%). Following the case definition for epidemiological studies of ADHD, counting only subjects with an ADHD diagnosis performed and confirmed by clinical assessment would reduce the wide variability in prevalence estimates, and, above all, would both describe the real rate of subjects suffering from ADHD disorder and avoid misdiagnosis.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 124 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 124 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 12 10%
Student > Master 11 9%
Student > Bachelor 11 9%
Student > Ph. D. Student 9 7%
Student > Postgraduate 8 6%
Other 19 15%
Unknown 54 44%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 23 19%
Psychology 19 15%
Nursing and Health Professions 6 5%
Social Sciences 4 3%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 2 2%
Other 12 10%
Unknown 58 47%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 September 2018.
All research outputs
#14,789,745
of 25,385,509 outputs
Outputs from Italian Journal of Pediatrics
#408
of 1,060 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#174,623
of 345,354 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Italian Journal of Pediatrics
#11
of 20 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,385,509 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,060 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 61% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 345,354 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 48th percentile – i.e., 48% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 20 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 45th percentile – i.e., 45% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.