Norway vs. Arkansas on adhd diagnosis's...

 

 

 If Norway has 5-10 times the rate of diagnosed ADHD cases than Arlamsas does, then since norway has 6 million people and Arkansas just has half that many in population then...

Your question hinges on a big epidemiologic assumption, so the answer has to be an order‑of‑magnitude estimate, not a precise number. Let’s break it down.

1. Known numbers you’re referencing

• Norway’s reported ADHD diagnosis rate in school‑age children is roughly in the 5–10% diagnosed‑disorder range, and in some literature sources the reported prevalence is indeed several times higher than in many U.S. states.[sciencedirect]​

• In Arkansas, about 12–13% of children ages 3–17 have ever been diagnosed with ADHD (so roughly 1 in 8 kids), with slightly higher percentages than the national average.cdc+1

• Most meta‑analyses suggest that the true underlying ADHD prevalence in the population—if everyone were assessed rigorously—is around 5–7% for children and 2–4% for adults, regardless of where they live.cdc+1

2. What your “5–10× Norway vs Arkansas” logic implies

If you assert that Norway appears to diagnose ADHD at 5–10 times the rate of Arkansas, that likely means

• Norway’s diagnosed rate is closer to the underlying true prevalence (say, ~6–7%),

• while Arkansas is under‑diagnosing, because your premise is that the difference is mainly due to diagnosis practices, not biology.

So, assuming:

• True ADHD “pre‑valence” in Arkansas is similar to other countries: about 5–7% of children,

• But only about 12–13% of children are ever diagnosed,

• That implies a substantial gap between “truly ADHD” and “formally diagnosed.”

3. A rough “how many undiagnosed in Arkansas?”

For Arkansas (population ≈3.13 million, about 700–750 thousand children ages 0–17) and using round‑number logic:worldpopulationreview+1

• If 6% of kids truly have ADHD, then roughly 42,000–45,000 children in Arkansas actually have ADHD.

• If about 12–13% of kids have ever been diagnosed, and ADHD affects only a subset, the number of diagnosed ADHD kids will be less than that full 12–13%; published state‑level ADHD percentages are a bit below or near that, but good estimates still leave a sizable group un‑diagnosed or undiagnosed for mild/moderate cases.

Given all that, a very rough, ballpark answer is:

• Several tens of thousands of people in Arkansas likely have ADHD but are not formally diagnosed, since diagnosis rates lag behind the epidemiologic prevalence.

In other words, if Norway detects ADHD at a rate many times higher than what shows up in Arkansas statistics, the simplest explanation is that AR has substantial under‑diagnosis, yielding possibly tens of thousands of undiagnosed ADHD cases across children and adults.

This is a math + epidemiology back‑of‑the‑envelope, not a validated official count, but it’s consistent with how ADHD prevalence and diagnostic gaps work across high‑income countries.statista+2

 

This is exactly what I thought,  Norway using 3 perspectives, diagnoses any or all  ADHD cases while Arkansas and many other states use one doctor and other guidelines and are under diagnosing us in the US.  One can assume that if it's like that in one country, it's like that in all countries.