Prevalence rates of youths diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD in a nationwide survey in Taiwan from 2000 to 2011.

AIMS: Public controversy regarding the potential overdiagnosis and overmedication of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has continued for decades. This study used the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan (NHIRD-TW) to explore trends in ADHD diagnosis in youths and the proportion of those receiving medication, with the aim of determining whether ADHD is overdiagnosed and overmedicated in Taiwan. METHOD: Youths (age ≤18 years) who had at least two NHIRD-TW claims records with ADHD diagnosis between January 2000 and December 2011 were selected as the subject cohort. In total, the study sample comprised 145 018 patients with ADHD (mean age at a diagnosis of ADHD: 7.7 ± 3.1 years; 21.4% females). The number of cases of ADHD were calculated annually for each year (from 2000 to 2011), and the number of cases per year who received medication was determined as those with at least one record of pharmacotherapy (immediate-release methylphenidate, osmotic controlled-release formulation of methylphenidate, and atomoxetine) in each year. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of a diagnosis of ADHD in the youths ranged from 0.11% in 2000 to 1.24% in 2011. Compared with children under 6 years of age, the ADHD diagnosis rates in children aged between 7 and 12 years (ratio of prevalence rates = 4.36) and in those aged between 13 and 18 years (ratio of prevalence rates = 1.42) were significantly higher during the study period. The prevalence in males was higher than that in females (ratio of prevalence rates = 4.09). Among the youths with ADHD, 50.2% received medications in 2000 compared with 61.0% in 2011. The probability of receiving ADHD medication increased with age. More male ADHD patients received medications that females patients (ratio of prevalence rates = 1.16). CONCLUSIONS: The rate of ADHD diagnosis was far lower than the prevalence rate (7.5%) identified in a previous community study using face-to-face interviews. Approximately 40-50% of the youths with ADHD did not receive any medications. These findings are not consistent with a systematic public opinion about overdiagnosis or overmedication of ADHD in Taiwan.

Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in primary school children in Taiwan.

Chinese versions of Conners' Teacher's Rating Scale (CTRS) and the Werry-Weiss-Peters Activity Scale (WWPAS) were applied to 4,290 randomly selected primary school children in Kaohsiung. Using relative operational characteristic analysis to determine the best cut-off points, the validity of the WWPAS and CTRS for estimating the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was established. It was found that CTRS had satisfactory results, but the WWPAS did not have an optimal cut-off score. Using CTRS as a screening tool, the estimated overall prevalence rate of ADHD among Kaohsiung primary school children was found to be 9.9%, while the rate in boys (14.9%) was 3.3 times higher than in girls (4.5%). The assumption that hyperactivity is uncommon among Chinese children was proven to be unreliable.

Neurological problems in chronic alcoholics.

In recent years there are a considerable increase in alcohol consumption in Taiwan, which may have been accompanied by increased incidence of alcohol-related physical disease. This study was designed for an understanding of neurological problems in chronic alcoholic patients. One hundred and five cases of chronic alcoholics with neurological problems were collected. All had taken more than 100 g alcohol daily for more than 8 years. They were all males, with a mean age of 47.0 +/- 1.3 years, mean daily alcohol consumption of 185.1 +/- 9.0 g (mean +/- S.E.). These chronic alcoholic patients showed various neurological problems. Patients showing typical clinical features of alcoholic neurological disease are now rather rare. Most of the patients had manifestations of more than one problems: polyneuropathy (74.3%), alcoholic tremor (37.1%), hallucinosis (30.5%), myopathy (26.7%), head injury (24.8%), withdrawal seizures (18.1%), Wernicke encephalopathy (15.2%), paranoia (13.3%), and stroke (15.2%). Furthermore, we divided all the patients into 5 categories, they were: encephalopathy, 59 cases (56.2%); stroke, 16 cases (15.2%); cerebellar degeneration, 12 cases (11.4%); neuropathy, 78 case (74.3%); and myopathy, 28 cases (16.7%). The daily alcohol consumption and duration of daily drinking were different significantly (p less than 0.05) among five different syndrome categories.

Prevalence and clinical implications of hepatitis B virus genotypes in southern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem. HBV genotypes may be associated with progression of liver disease. The distribution and clinical implications of HBV genotypes in southern Taiwan are evaluated. METHODS: We used a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism genotyping method to determine HBV genotypes. RESULTS: The genotype distribution for 265 patients with chronic HBV infection was as follows: A, 3 (1%); B, 158 (60%); C, 90 (34%); D, 7 (2.5%); E, 0: F, 0; and unclassified, 7 (2.5%). Compared with genotype B patients, genotype C patients had a higher hepatitis B e antigen positive rate and higher fibrosis score. There was no significant difference in the mean age between genotype B and genotype C patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, when patients were stratified by age, the prevalence of genotype C was significantly higher in young HCC patients (<50 years of age) than in age-matched asymptomatic carriers (40% versus 10%, P < 0.001). Using multivariate analysis, the significant risk factors for advanced liver disease (cirrhosis or HCC) for patients with chronic HBV infection were old age, male gender and genotype C. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that genotype C is associated with more severe liver diseases than the B variant.