{"id":910093,"date":"2026-09-29T18:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T18:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910093\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T18:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T18:38:08","slug":"prescriptions-of-adhd-medication-for-over-16s-up-by-more-than-200-in-a-decade-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910093\/","title":{"rendered":"Prescriptions of ADHD medication for over-16s up by more than 200% in a decade \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prescription rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) <\/a>medication to over-16s in the Republic has increased by 211 per cent over the past 10 years, according to a new report from the Irish Medical Journal. <\/p>\n

The study looked at patterns of stimulant ADHD medications issued to adults in Ireland between 2015 and 2024 under community drug schemes.<\/p>\n

ADHD is a common condition that affects brain development and makes it hard to focus, control impulses, and manage excess energy.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0What do Irish experts think about controversial ADHD claims?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It is a disability in the Republic under equality and discrimination laws when the symptoms have a substantial, negative impact on a person\u2019s daily life.<\/p>\n

Dispensing data were obtained from the Irish Primary Care Reimbursement Service, namely prescriptions reimbursed through the General Medical Services scheme and the Drug Payment scheme.<\/p>\n

Dispensing volumes and patient numbers for recommended first-line agents, methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine, were analysed using a \u201cretrospective repeated cross-sectional design\u201d.<\/p>\n

The number of recorded dosage units of both medications increased by 211 per cent (700,574 to 2.2 million) between 2015 and 2024. <\/p>\n

Units of lisdexamfetamine rose by 504 per cent (59,088 to 356,641) between 2020 and 2023. <\/p>\n

The number of patients also increased during this time (3,377 to 13,966). Those aged 16-34 years, described by the study as adults, experienced the largest growth. <\/p>\n

Adults aged up to 34 years were the most prevalent patient population and experienced the largest absolute growth (2,708 to 7,930), followed by those aged 35-54 years (332 to 2,232). <\/p>\n

Individuals aged 55 years and older represented the least prevalent patient population throughout the study period, although dispensings increased steadily in this group as well (216 to 403).<\/p>\n

By 2024, dispensings among women had increased to levels approaching those observed in men. Regional patient variation was \u201cevident\u201d, with the largest increases observed in North Cork, Waterford, and Cork-South Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegional variation could suggest differing levels of access to diagnostic services, specialist pathways, and trained clinicians,\u201d the report\u2019s authors noted. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Medication has changed my lifeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

They also said private prescriptions were not involved in the study, which may have led to \u201cunderestimation\u201d, particularly for individuals outside public reimbursement schemes.<\/p>\n

The authors acknowledged that the medications can also be used for other conditions, such as narcolepsy, although they are primarily prescribed for ADHD. <\/p>\n

They concluded that the increase in prescriptions \u201ccould underscore the need for expanded assessment pathways, multidisciplinary follow-up, and structured medicines management\u201d.<\/p>\n

The authors recommended continued monitoring of prescription patterns to help with national treatment planning. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prescription rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication to over-16s in the Republic has increased by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,428782,175028,137,490,478187,478188,478189,78318],"class_list":["post-910093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-difficulties","tag-digital-education","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-online-school","tag-repetitive-behavior","tag-sensory-issues","tag-social-skills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}