In Australia, the poor are up to ten times more likely to be put on ADHD drugs

As reported on TVNZ

Poorer children are more likely to be prescribed drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because they can not access alternative treatments, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) says.

Medicare figures show kids in lower socio-economic areas of NSW [New South Wales] are up to ten times more likely to be put on ADHD drugs than those in affluent areas.

In the state's poorest areas, scripts [prescriptions] for the two major ADHD drugs available on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) were issued at a rate of about one for every 25 children under 14.

AMA vice president and child psychiatrist Dr Choong-Siew Yong said the trend was likely to be true for Australia as a whole.

It was not surprising given that families in poorer areas generally presented with more problems than in affluent areas, Yong said.

Australian doctors issue about 250,000 prescriptions for ADHD drugs a year, but Yong said the country was not one of the biggest prescribers.

Prescribing rates for this sort of medication were much lower in the eastern states compared to Western Australia, which has figures in line with the United States, he said.