This is a study that will be of interest to parents of children with attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity (ADHD). The Epi-Phare group, which brings together the Medicines Agency and Health Insurance, published on June 20, 2024 the results of research carried out on more than 4 million children. These children, born between 2010 and 2016, were followed from the main kindergarten section to CE2.
The researchers were interested in the prescription of drugs such as Ritalin, used in the treatment of hyperactivity, and in the implementation of speech therapy sessions. At the end of their study, they came to the following observation: within the same class, the youngest children are more likely to be prescribed medication and speech therapy sessions than the oldest children.
A deceptive maturity?
To explain this phenomenon, researchers have several hypotheses. One of them is linked to the “ academic pressure » and “ too high demands especially during the first years of school “. These requirements would put the youngest children in a class in difficulty. These would then be “ more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD or learning disabilities “.
Another hypothesis would be that older children, being more mature, would see their difficulties less easily diagnosed. This “ particularly in a context of limited care provision in child psychiatry and speech therapy in France”, specify the authors of the study.
Better adapt educational expectations
The Haute Autorité de Santé must soon provide new recommendations for the care of children with ADHD; this study will be examined in this context. Epi-Phare researchers, for their part, recommend better adapting “ educational expectations to the relative age and level of neurological maturity of the children.” This would prevent ADHD diagnoses from being made. by excess » for the youngest children, and conversely this would allow older children with difficulties to be properly taken care of.
