The Global Market For ADHD Medications

By Richard M. Scheffler, Stephen P. Hinshaw, Sepideh Modrek, and Peter Levine | Published April 2007 in Health Affairs | Link to Full Article

Little is known about the global use and cost of medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Global use of ADHD medications rose threefold from 1993 through 2003, whereas global spending (U.S. $2.4 billion in 2003) rose ninefold, adjusting for inflation. Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) robustly predicted use across countries, but the United States, Canada, and Australia showed significantly higher-than predicted use. This article finds that use and spending grew in both developed and developing countries, but spending growth was concentrated in developed countries, which adopted more costly, long-acting formulations.