ADHD diagnoses rising fastest among teenage girls in Finland

ADHD diagnoses among children and young people in Finland continue to grow, with the sharpest increase seen among girls aged 13 to 17, according to new data from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), reported by Yle.

In 2023, an ADHD diagnosis was recorded for approximately 12.5 percent of boys aged 7 to 12, and around 11.5 percent of boys aged 13 to 17. Among girls, the figure stood at roughly 4.5 percent for primary school-age children and 7 percent for those aged 13 to 17.

While diagnoses remain more common in boys overall, the gender gap has been narrowing steadily over the past decade.

“ADHD diagnoses among children and young people have increased throughout the entire observation period from 2015 to 2024, and no clear change in the direction of this trend has so far been observed,” said THL chief physician Terhi Aalto-Setälä in a THL press release.

Aalto-Setälä described the situation as a significant challenge for primary healthcare, noting that diagnosing ADHD requires careful multidisciplinary assessment that is often difficult to carry out to a sufficient extent in primary care settings.

Diagnoses outpacing medication use

The use of ADHD medication among children and young people has also increased over the same period, but in recent years diagnoses have grown faster than medication uptake.

“This is an interesting observation. The use of ADHD medication in Finland is already quite common compared to other Nordic countries, particularly among primary school-age boys,” said Miika Vuori, research director at the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), in the press release. Vuori suggested the finding may point to changes in treatment practices.

THL noted that its statistics reflect the administrative prevalence of ADHD, meaning the number of children and young people who have had a diagnosis recorded in healthcare registers, including primary care, school health services, and specialised medical care.