ADHD Costly In Adult Work Time

Study: Attention Deficit Disorder In Adults Can Cause Loss Of Nearly A Month's Work Per Year

(AP)  When "Fidgety Philip" grows up, the problems of attention deficit disorder can multiply into loss of nearly a month's work per year.

Long seen as a problem for children, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was first described in 1845 by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman, who wrote "The Story of Fidgety Philip."

More recently, it has been recognized as continuing into adulthood for some people, and new research seeks to estimate the effect of ADHD on workers.

This lack of ability to concentrate costs the average adult sufferer 22.1 days of "role performance," per year, including 8.7 extra days absent, according to researchers led by Dr. Ron de Graaf of the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction.

It might be cost-effective for employers to screen workers for ADHD and provide treatment, the researchers suggest.

"There were many more people than most of us who have done these studies had expected," that were affected by adult ADHD, said Dr. Ronald C. Kessler of Harvard University, a co-author of the report. "People don't come for treatment for this ... it's kind of one of those hidden things," he said in a telephone interview.

"It's an enormous impairment," Kessler said, citing absences, accidents and low performance on the job.

Kessler said he had worked with workers suffering depression and found that treatment costing $1,000 could help prevent $4,000 in lost productivity.

"It sure looks like the effect would be as big, if not bigger, for ADHD," he said. "We're looking around for an employer or two who might be willing to give this a try."

Linda S. Anderson, president of the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Association, said workplace assistance and treatment can be vital,

Most people think of ADHD as a children's problem, but when it continues into adulthood people have a problem coping with the workplace and need assistance, said Anderson, who was not part of the research team.

The new study may underestimate the adult rate of ADHD, she said, noting that many victims may not have jobs. Those who do often struggle to keep up, but there are treatments available, she said.

The majority of the lost performance was associated with reductions in quantity and quality of work rather than actual absenteeism, the researchers said.

Many employers assume occasional absences are part of the cost of doing business, but the paper noted that, "typically they expect their workers to be working when they are on the job."

To find that most of the ADHD-related loss occurs on days when the worker is present is both striking and disturbing from an employer perspective, the authors said.

Researchers interviewed 7,075 workers aged 18 to 44 in 10 countries, concluding that an average of 3.5 percent had ADHD. Their findings are published in Tuesday's online edition of the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

In 2006, a study led by Kessler estimated that 4.4 percent of adults aged 18 to 44 in the United States experience ADHD symptoms and some disability.

The new research estimated the U.S. rate at 4.5 percent among workers, costing an average of 28.3 days performance.

The highest rate was for France, 6.3 percent, but the lost time was lower at 20.1 days.

Other countries studied and ADHD rates among adults, and estimated days lost per affected worker, were Lebanon, 0.9 percent, 19.4 days; Spain, 1.3 percent, 1.1 days; Colombia, 1.9 percent, 29.4 days; Mexico, 2.4 percent, 6.1 days; Italy, 3.4 percent, 22.2 days; Germany, 3.5 percent, 13.6 days; Belgium, 3.7 percent, 16.5 days; Netherlands, 4.9 percent, performance improved.

The researchers were unable to explain why the ADHD affected workers in the Netherlands had improved performance rather than the declines seen in every other country studied.

"We periodically find one of those blips, we just don't know why," Kessler said.

In a separate study issued earlier this month, researchers led by Kessler reported that major mental disorders cost the U.S. at least $193 billion annually in lost earnings alone. That study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The new international study was supported by the World Health Organization, U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, John D. and Catharine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, U.S. Public Health Service, Fogarty International Center, Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly and Company, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

[hypnotoad72]

Lack of disipline and structure leads to this type of disorder, posted by angryman

That is a load of bs.

Posted by kennergirl
---------------------

Seconded. If structure solved everything, we wouldn''t have any problems to begin with. That''s not to even remotely suggest I am an advocate of anarchy (I''m not!!), but I used to know parents of kids who had a LOT of structure -- so the kid COULD adjust. Seems contradictory to the notion that a kid lacking structure would end up that way...

It''s a PDD. Treatable, and often such people can be more valuable than some neurotypicals. Even if they are perceived as "odd" or whatever.

[kennergirl]

Lack of disipline and structure leads to this type of disorder, posted by angryman

That is a load of bs.

[incog-nito]

Hey, I work enough long hours already. I need my ADHD for my time off.

[incog-nito]

Hey, I work enough long hours already. I need my ADHD for my time off.

[hypnotoad72]

angryman55; You have no idea what you are talking about. People with ADHD don''''t grow up to be dregs no more than any other group. Some of us grow up and start companies that employ people like you. Kids with ADD end up having to work harder to get the things that come naturally to others, not working any less. Actually ones that end up in the gifted classes do much better due to the constant stimulation. I personally think that it is because the school systems cater to all in the same manor, children with ADHD suffer. I grew up not being diagnosed, but had to struggle to get the grades that others took for granted. I was diagnosed at a later time and I still was able to graduate from an Ivy League school (under grad and MBA). Now I am a Senior Executive at a fortune 10 company earning in the top 1% of all us citizens. Just think one of your so called dregs decides and cares for the futures of over 20k workers every day, you may be one of them. I wonder with all of your discipline did your children turn out so well, are they solving the worlds problems, curing any illnesses? Don''''t throw stones at people that you or they may work for. A lot of people with ADHD are extremely successful. Are you?

Posted by kmitc999
------------------

Well spoken!! Thank you very much for taking the time to try to edify some of the people out there.

[kmitc999]

angryman55; You have no idea what you are talking about. People with ADHD don''t grow up to be dregs no more than any other group. Some of us grow up and start companies that employ people like you. Kids with ADD end up having to work harder to get the things that come naturally to others, not working any less. Actually ones that end up in the gifted classes do much better due to the constant stimulation. I personally think that it is because the school systems cater to all in the same manor, children with ADHD suffer. I grew up not being diagnosed, but had to struggle to get the grades that others took for granted. I was diagnosed at a later time and I still was able to graduate from an Ivy League school (under grad and MBA). Now I am a Senior Executive at a fortune 10 company earning in the top 1% of all us citizens. Just think one of your so called dregs decides and cares for the futures of over 20k workers every day, you may be one of them. I wonder with all of your discipline did your children turn out so well, are they solving the worlds problems, curing any illnesses? Don''t throw stones at people that you or they may work for. A lot of people with ADHD are extremely successful. Are you?

[bb19631]

My son has ADHD. He did therapy and meds for this. He graduated high school with honors and a regency diploma. He is an adult now-no meds or thrapy anymore. His choice. He holds down a full time job, no days missed at work. He is above average in intelligence. He also has OCD. He works in a fast paced job, which seems to help alot. He needs to be moving all the time, he picked the right kind of job to fullfill this urge. I''m very proud of him. With the right kind of intervention ADHD kids become very productive adults. I don''t agree with part of this article.

[bb19631]

My son has ADHD. He did therapy and meds for this. He graduated high school with honors and a regency diploma. He is an adult now-no meds or thrapy anymore. His choice. He holds down a full time job, no days missed at work. He is above average in intelligence. He also has OCD. He works in a fast paced job, which seems to help alot. He needs to be moving all the time, he picked the right kind of job to fullfill this urge. I''m very proud of him. With the right kind of intervention ADHD kids become very productive adults. I don''t agree with part of this article.

[Latrocinor]

PET and Adult ADHD
Journal of Nuclear Medicine, The, October, 2007

Volkow et al. from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Bethesda, MD) and the Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton, NY) reported in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry (2007;64:932940) on a study using PET imaging to test the hypothesis that striatal dopamine activity is depressed in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that this contributes to symptoms of inattention.

The study included 19 medication-naive adults with ADHD and 24 healthy controls, each of whom underwent'' ''C-raclopride PET imaging after placebo and after intravenous ...

[Latrocinor]

Now companies have to pay for therapy because mmomy and daddy didnt discipline and turn that back porch red in their formative years....jeeeesh

Posted by angryman55
.. ..

What''s nice about our modern society is violence and child abuse are crimes.

ADHD can be detected easily with MRI scans.

You yourself sound like a product of the child torture philosophy.

Since we can physically scan for it doesn''t it make sense to not torture a child for a natural physical condition?

People don''t get therapy because Insurance companies won''t pay for it on what they categorize as a behavioral disorder. Oddly enough, they will pay for the medication to treat it.

ADD/ADHD was a widely used diagnosis for all sorts of childhood "disorders" that mostly stemmed from diet or lack of structure/discipline in a child''s life. Unfortunately, for the few of us that have a legitimate problem (give it whatever name you want)that due to those improper diagnosis, we are stereotyped as lazy and undisciplined. If you were to tell me that your child has ADHD, I will be the first person to question that diagnosis. I will say, prove it because I don''t believe you. I was diagnosed at 23 yrs old. At a time when it was "unheard of" for adults to have ADHD. I have lived in 5 different states (military) and each time had to be re-diagnosed by 5 different doctors to be able to get a prescription. All 5 doctors gave the same diagnosis. All other mental health disorders ruled out.

Accept it, it''s real. Yes, the diagnosis was (and continues) to be abused and given to patients that only need to get off the sugar and get some firm structure in their lives. For the rest of us that fight with it every day, I wish the fix was as simple as changing my diet or a swift kick in the behind.


Dr. Ronald C. Kessler of Harvard University, a co-author of the report. "People don''t come for treatment for this ... it''s kind of one of those hidden things," he said in a telephone interview.

[randynason]

Where else but in America can a child the result of alcohol fetal syndrone grow up to be president and ruin that nation and half of the world?
YOU DRINK. YOU DRIVE. YOU LOSE.

[linfinster]

Oh yes, angryman55, that''s the cause ... if ONLY we as parents had said no to early dating our child wouldn''t be infertile ..

[itgranny]

today''s "adhd" were yesterday''s "movers and shakers". Problem is now we try to restrain them in a 6X6 cubicle.

[hypnotoad72]

What they don''t tell you is that most of the people who have this "deficit" are above average in intelligence.

Posted by httpwwwnews at 09:08 AM : May 27, 2008
-----------------------------------------------

Well, nobody''s perfect... one would think intelligence would help a person in life?

[hypnotoad72]

Well, it''s not like people with ADHD *don''t* want to make a living and be a part of the community, good grief. Never mind what people with ADHD can say in return about, amongst other things, being discriminated against...

What next, decide those with ADHD are the cause of the economy''s downturn and put them all into big ovens? Wait, didn''t somebody do that in the 1940s, claiming certain people were the cause of all sorts of things?

This article isn''t journalism. It''s blind, bigoted hatred.

[zorar-2009]

Get rid of all the lazy slackers & bums..fire them all.

[zorar-2009]

ADHD hows it costly if it''s always been there ..it''s the cost of doing business..I like these economic scare journalists that always put a dollar loss on something ...

[lilbeards1]

ADHD, ADD, ODD and the like are fiction. A new book is coming out that explains it all..."The Diseasing of America''s Children" by John Rosemond and Bose Ravenel. It''s available for preorder now on amazon.

[missingamerica]

"It might be cost-effective for employers to screen workers for ADHD and provide treatment, the researchers suggest."

Uh...except for today''s "corporate titans" would instead pre-screen for the disorder and not hire them (including me, I think, in point of fact) in the first place.

That is why I was positively SHOCKED that Bush supported genetic discrimination laws...until I remembered the research that indicated that there may be a genetic component - and thus identifiable marker for - a predisposition for alcohol abuse.