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A survey of adult referrals to specialist attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder clinics in Canada

Overview of attention for article published in International Journal of General Medicine, December 2017
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (93rd percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (91st percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 news outlet
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23 X users
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1 Facebook page

Citations

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5 Dimensions

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29 Mendeley
Title
A survey of adult referrals to specialist attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder clinics in Canada
Published in
International Journal of General Medicine, December 2017
DOI 10.2147/ijgm.s145269
Pubmed ID
Authors

Larry J Klassen, C Matthew Blackwood, Christopher J Reaume, Samuel Schaffer, James G Burns

Abstract

Canadian guidelines encourage family physicians to diagnose/manage adults with uncomplicated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); specialist referral is recommended only for complex cases. This retrospective case review investigated adults referred to Canadian ADHD clinics. Adult ADHD specialists reviewed referral letters/charts of patients (aged ≥18 years and no family history/known/expressed childhood ADHD) from family physicians/psychiatrists over 2 years. Data on 515 referrals (mean age 33 years, 60% males) were collected (December 2014 to September 2015); 472/515 (92%) were made by family physicians. No psychiatric comorbid symptoms were noted in 344/515 (67%) referrals. ADHD was confirmed by a specialist in 483/515 (94%) cases, whether comorbid symptoms were noted at referral (155/171 [91%]) or not (328/344 [95%]). ADHD was reported to impact "work" (251/317 [79%]), "school" (121/166 [73%]), "social/friends" (260/483 [54%]), and "spouse/family" (231/483 [48%]). Overall, 335/483 (69%) patients had more than or equal to one comorbid symptom (diagnosed by referring physician or specialist). Stimulant monotherapy was recommended for 383/483 (79%) patients, non-stimulant monotherapy for 41/483 (8%) patients, and stimulant plus non-stimulant monotherapy for 39/483 (8%) patients. Almost half of patients were returned for referring physician's follow-up, either before treatment initiation (102/483 [21%]) or after treatment stabilization (99/483 [20%]). Follow-up was by a specialist for 282/483 (58%) patients. ADHD diagnosis was specialist confirmed in most cases. Although most referrals (67%) noted no psychiatric comorbid symptoms, 69% of patients had ≥1 such symptom (diagnosed by a referring physician or specialist), so comorbid symptoms although not always noted at referral, may have contributed to the decision to refer. ADHD has a wide-ranging impact on patients' daily lives. It is possible that greater confidence of family physicians to diagnose and treat adult ADHD could help to meet patients' needs.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 23 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 29 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 29 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 6 21%
Student > Master 6 21%
Professor 4 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 4 14%
Student > Doctoral Student 1 3%
Other 3 10%
Unknown 5 17%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 12 41%
Nursing and Health Professions 4 14%
Medicine and Dentistry 4 14%
Social Sciences 1 3%
Computer Science 1 3%
Other 2 7%
Unknown 5 17%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 29. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 July 2023.
All research outputs
#1,360,214
of 25,584,565 outputs
Outputs from International Journal of General Medicine
#75
of 1,627 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#30,172
of 446,259 outputs
Outputs of similar age from International Journal of General Medicine
#2
of 12 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,584,565 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 94th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,627 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 446,259 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 12 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.