ADHD Diagnosis
Adults can be more difficult to identify than children. A reliable diagnosis begins with a clinical interview by an expert in ADHD.
You must bring any medical or academic records to your appointment. You may also bring questionnaires and rating scales that give information about your symptoms.
Signs and symptoms
A doctor will conduct a physical exam and interview you to determine if ADHD is present. The evaluator will inquire about the person's life and childhood, and may employ checklists to document the person's symptoms. The evaluator may also review the person's academic and work documents, and may want to speak with teachers or other individuals who are close to them.
The evaluator will use the official lists of symptoms for inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity to determine whether the person meets diagnostic criteria. Those criteria are that the patient has a variety of symptoms for at least 6 months, and that the symptoms manifest in more than one location -- such as at home and at work or school. The evaluator may also check for other conditions that may cause similar symptoms, such as anxiety or depression.
Adults will be assessed to determine the severity of their symptoms and the impact they have on their work or social lives. The evaluator can also inquire about what their feelings are about their symptoms and if they impact their daily functioning.
Many people who suffer from ADHD struggle to remember if their issues began in childhood or later. A specialist will often interview people who are familiar with the person, such as their spouse, sibling or parent for an adult or a teacher or parent of a child. The examiner might use checklists to assess adults as well as a list of the behaviors that children exhibit.
Contrary to the previous guidelines for diagnosing the adult can't be diagnosed with ADHD until symptoms begin to manifest prior to the age of 12. This change is intended to protect people who suffered from ADHD as children from being misdiagnosed as having other disorders such as anxiety or depression.
Medical Histories
If you suspect your child or yourself has ADHD, your first step should be to speak with an expert who will perform an extensive evaluation. Contact your doctor or an experienced local mental health professional for recommendations, or search the phone book for "psychiatry" or "psychology." You can also reach out to an adult ADHD support group, as many of them have worked with local specialists who could provide recommendations.
A healthcare professional will review the person's medical history as well as family history during the ADHD diagnostic evaluation. They will inquire about the effects of the symptoms on functioning in different environments, like at work, at home, or in relationships. It is crucial to determine the severity of the symptoms, since the APA's guidelines for ADHD stipulate that the symptoms require significant impairment in order to be classified as ADHD.
The healthcare professional will typically interview the patient, however, they might also request to speak to the person's siblings, parents and friends who know him well. Some healthcare professionals will ask patients to fill out questionnaires or scales. These include ADHD symptoms checklists and ratings of behavior. Teachers and other caregivers can be helpful sources of information, too.
It is important to assess how the individual's symptoms affect in a variety of settings, as the APA's diagnostic guidelines note that symptoms have to occur frequently and impair performance. This is crucial because other conditions like mood disorders and learning disabilities, may present similar to ADHD (Austerman 2015). Additionally, a medical exam may be performed to check for other possible causes of the symptoms, such as thyroid issues, vision or hearing issues, or the use of certain drugs like stimulants or sedatives.
Family History
In certain cases, a family history of ADHD is a crucial element in determining if you have the diagnosis. It is highly genetically inherited, and a thorough review of the patient and their relatives' histories will aid in determining if there's any familial pattern.
It is crucial that healthcare professionals have a complete picture of the symptoms of their patients, which includes whether or not they happen in school, at work or in social settings. A healthcare professional must also consider the degree to which a person's symptoms affect their daily functioning. This is a more accurate test than simply looking at the number of symptoms or looking at the patient's IQ.
A doctor may conduct an interview with the child or teen and also their parents. In many cases, a pediatrician psychiatrist specializes in the evaluation and treatment of ADHD. A mental health specialist with extensive experience in ADHD is required to conduct a thorough interview for adults.
A thorough assessment includes a physical examination which can help rule out certain conditions that can cause symptoms similar to ADHD. A complete medical history is also gathered. This can include school and medical records as along with a psychologist's or school counselor's psychological assessment. School records from the past can be useful for adults to determine whether symptoms began in the early years of childhood.
When diagnosing adults, it is important to take into consideration how symptoms affect daily functioning. A thorough psychiatric exam could be required, including rating scales and questions by caregivers and patients in addition to an interview with a clinician and referral for a medical exam. Adults may also undergo a neuropsychological or psychometric test to determine the connection between their symptoms and learning disorders.
Interviews
A healthcare professional will speak with you or your child about their issues at home, at school, and in the community. The provider will ask about your or child's medical and family history, and will also review any records you have, like old school report cards. This information will help the doctor decide if you or your child should take a test for diagnosing ADHD.
Your provider will use rating scales to identify if you or your child meets criteria for ADHD, including six established symptoms in the two main categories of the disorder -- inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. These ratings are usually taken over a six-month time period and include both home and school. assessment of adhd must be performed by those who are familiar with your your child's behaviors like teachers and religious leaders, scout and scout leaders, coaches and parents.
Adults and children who are diagnosed with ADHD have symptoms that are debilitating, and affect their daily activities whether at work, school or playing. The signs should be evident in childhood, usually before the age of 12. They are not caused by any other mental health disorder.
The sensitivity and specificity in ADHD assessments can be enhanced by using psychometric and neuropsychological tests that assess IQ and cognitive functioning. However, they should only be used as part of an assessment plan that includes a clinical interview and rating scales. These assessments may include the use of a standardized questionnaire like the ADHD Diagnostic Interview for Adults (DIVA) or a computerized adaptive testing approach that can measure the speed of response, short-term memory and executive functions. In the future digital technology, such as virtual reality for continuous performance tests as well as sensors for head movement may aid in improving the ecological validity of these ADHD assessment tools by permitting the person being evaluated to be in their natural environment rather than sitting in a clinical office.
Tests
If your physician or mental health professional suspects ADHD they might refer you to an ADHD specialist. A complete evaluation will include an in-depth interview, information from other sources, such as your spouse or significant others, as well as standardized behavior ratings scales for ADHD. The evaluator will order tests according to the clinical impression and will screen for any conditions that may be affecting your symptoms. These could include depression, learning disabilities, or a medical condition.
A thorough ADHD evaluation is required by the evaluator to determine if your symptoms are significantly affecting your life and functioning. It can happen in a variety settings, including your workplace, home or school, as well as social interactions. The examiner should inquire about what the impact of your condition has been on you in each setting. This will allow the evaluator make an assessment and formulate treatment recommendations.
In addition to the symptom ratings The complete assessment typically includes one or more standardized performance test for ADHD. These tests are founded on research that compares the behavior of people suffering from ADHD and those who don't. They can improve the limitations of a clinical interview by focusing on specific behaviors rather than the overall performance. These measures can help evaluaters determine if a person is lying or attempting to cheat a test. This issue has been recognized in the field for years.
A thorough ADHD evaluation may include an examination of the brain or other neuroimaging tests in addition to the standard test and symptom rating scales. However, these tests are not often used in a clinic setting because they are expensive and expose the patient to ionizing radiation.