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The youngest get the pill: ADHD misdiagnosis in Germany, its regional correlates and international comparison

Schwandt, Hannes; Wuppermann, Amelie (2016). The youngest get the pill: ADHD misdiagnosis in Germany, its regional correlates and international comparison. Labour Economics, 43:72-86.

Abstract

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a leading diagnosed health condition among children in many developed countries but the causes underlying these high levels of ADHD remain highly controversial. Recent research for the U.S., Canada and some European countries shows that children who enter school relatively young have higher ADHD rates than their older peers, suggesting that ADHD may be misdiagnosed in the younger children due to their relative immaturity. Using rich administrative health insurance claims data from Germany we study the effects of relative school entry age on ADHD risk in Europe's largest country and relate the effects for Germany to the international evidence. We further analyze different mechanisms that may drive these effects, focusing on physician supply side and demand side factors stemming from the production of education. We find robust evidence for school-entry age related misdiagnosis of ADHD in Germany. Within Germany and internationally, a higher share of misdiagnoses are related to a higher overall ADHD level, suggesting that misdiagnoses may be a driving factor of high ADHD levels. Furthermore, the effects in Germany seem to be driven by teachers and parents in an attempt to facilitate and improve the production of education.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, not_refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:03 Faculty of Economics > Department of Economics
Dewey Decimal Classification:330 Economics
Scopus Subject Areas:Social Sciences & Humanities > Economics and Econometrics
Social Sciences & Humanities > Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Uncontrolled Keywords:ADHD, misdiagnosis, regression discontinuity, Germany, international comparison
Scope:Discipline-based scholarship (basic research)
Language:English
Date:December 2016
Deposited On:29 Sep 2016 08:32
Last Modified:13 Nov 2024 04:42
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0927-5371
OA Status:Green
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2016.05.018
Other Identification Number:merlin-id:13912

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