00:01There is no register of people with diagnosis of ADHD in Australia, particularly adults.
00:08And so what we've done with the Medicines Intelligence Research Program at the University
00:12of New South Wales is created a map of individuals who filled at least one prescription in any
00:18given year for an ADHD medication.
00:21And then we've mapped that on by geographic area across Australia.
00:24And what we've shown for the first time in adults with ADHD or an ADHD presumed diagnosis
00:31is enormous variation in the country, where you've got parts of the country, particularly
00:36Southwest Sydney, for example, which is Fairfield is the second lowest rate of ADHD prescribing
00:42in Australia, where up to 90% of people who have got ADHD are being undiagnosed and untreated.
00:50And if you go to the other end of the scale, the hottest hotspot in Australia is actually
00:55Fremantle.
00:56Western Australia is a high prescribing state.
00:59And if you look at Fremantle in Western Australia, our data analysis ends June 2024, 4.4% of adults
01:07in Fremantle were filling scripts for ADHD medications.
01:13But in fact, if you go to women under 44, an update for current levels of prescribing is
01:19up to 8% when the actual level is around about 2.5% to 3%.
01:24And it's not alone, by the way.
01:25Other states have high prescribing areas as well.
01:28Historically, Western Australia had very high rates of prescribing in children, probably over
01:33the top in children too.
01:35So ADHD is probably more accepted as a diagnosis, less stigma about it.
01:41But there are concerns that when you go up to that level of maybe 8%, when the actual level
01:49is 2.5% to 3%, some people are being diagnosed with ADHD who have something else.
01:55And that's important.
01:57It's not that they've got nothing going on with them.
01:59It's just that they may have something else which could be more effectively treated.
02:04And then when you go to other parts of the country, it's interesting.
02:08It should be, in many ways, people in the wealthiest suburbs who have higher rates of diagnosis.
02:15So for those of you who know Melbourne, you'd expect the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne
02:18to have it.
02:19If you know Perth, you'd expect that it's the western suburbs.
02:22If you know Sydney, you'd expect the eastern suburbs and northern suburbs.
02:26Not so.
02:27Sydney, it's Merrickville in the inner west.
02:29Melbourne, it's Brunswick, Cobourg.
02:32And in Western Australia, it's Fremantle, not the wealthiest suburbs.
02:37So there's something else going on socially.
02:41These are suburbs where the people are younger, better educated.
02:45They do have money.
02:46It costs you maybe $2,000 or $3,000 to get a diagnosis and be treated for ADHD in Australia.
02:52Public services don't do it.
02:53So you do need to have money.
02:55But there's obviously something going on in these neighborhoods, which are increasing
03:00the rate of diagnosis.
03:02In terms of Medicare, it's the PBS.
03:05So one of the most popular drugs has gone from $32 million a few years ago to $167 million
03:11the last time we recorded the data.
03:15So there's a lot of money going out in the PBS.
03:17The most rapidly rising script in Australia is, in fact, one of the drugs for ADHD.
03:23So there's money going out of the PBS for this.
03:26But it's more of an economic issue that when you've got large areas of the country with under-diagnosis,
03:33you've got a lot of people who need to be treated to fulfill themselves in the community and economically.
03:39So that's probably more of a public health issue than people who may be getting the scripts for ADHD drugs
03:46who may not have ADHD themselves.
03:48But as you'll find out on the program, there are risks in this diagnosis when you're over-diagnosing it, particularly
03:55when you're doing it through these telehealth clinics.
03:57It's a complicated problem.
03:59Problem of a broadness Oh, we don't have aussi.
04:02No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
04:02Okay, well, on the 19th ofarring UnCH 436.
04:03You
Comments