Racial and Ethnic Disparities in ADHD Treatment of Youth Enrolled in Medicaid

Compared with whites, African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely both to discontinue medication and to go without therapy afterward.

Medicaid-enrolled African-American and Hispanic youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to discontinue medication than white youth. To determine if racial/ethnic disparities exist in other recommended ADHD treatment components, researchers analyzed data from 9 states from 2008 to 2011.

Roughly 172,000 children ages 6 to 12 years were included in the analysis (48% non-Hispanic white, 31% African-American, 14% Hispanic). Among the findings:

Of youth starting medication, significantly more African-Americans (42%) and Hispanics (49%) made at least one psychotherapy visit compared with whites (38%), and made more total visits.
In adjusted analyses, compared with whites, African-Americans were less likely to receiv…

Reviewing Author

Alain Joffe, MD, MPH, FAAP

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Alain Joffe, MD, MPH, FAAP

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in ADHD Treatment of Youth Enrolled in Medicaid

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Reviewing Author