Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1513142
Diagnoses climb for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Among the top drug categories by eligible amount, drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are the fastest growing due to significantly more claimants year after year, especially among adults. Ranking sixth on TELUS Health's top-10 list in 2022 with a 5.1% share of the total eligible amount, the ADHD category appears poised to overtake depression (5.2%) and asthma (5.3%). ADHD drugs' share of claimants almost doubled in the past five years, from 3.4% in 2018 to 6.2% in 2022 (chart 13). For the first six months of 2023, 7.0% of claimants submitted claims for ADHD drugs. When these numbers are spread out across all insured individuals, ADHD drugs represented 3.6% of TELUS Health's book of business in 2022, compared to 1.9% in 2018. The first half of 2023 saw that share climb to 4.5%. ADHD drugs accounted for 3.7% of all claims submitted in 2022, climbing to 4.1% by the end of the first half of 2023 (chart 14). Five years ago, their share was 2.3%. The number of claims and claimants has grown by double digits for at least the past four years—except for 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (charts 15 and 16). In each of 2022 and 2021, the number of claimants grew by a third. When 2022 is compared to 2018, the number of claimants grew by an astonishing 151.3%. P. 13