Many different private players today offer investigations for ADHD and autism diagnoses outside the publicly funded health care. It is often possible to get an investigation quickly and in many cases the investigation can be done digitally.
– There may be positive aspects of this, but we also see risks, says Social Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) about the private actors.
Intrusive or misleading advertising, offers of “diagnosis or money back” and offers of free medication are, according to Forss, some risks that occur. How many companies offer investigations cannot respond to, but at the press conference he notes that it is a large number of companies.
– We need to ensure that care resources are used correctly and that it is conducted by serious actors and not happiness seekers who mislead people to seek answers in individual diagnoses, he says.
ADHD investigators should be reviewed
The Government is now commissioning the Inspection for Health and Care (IVO) to make a targeted supervision of private actors, and at the same time the Swedish Agency for Health and Care Analysis must review risks with some privately funded care.
The government does not want to prohibit private companies from conducting ADHD investigations-but according to Forssmed, through the supervision, wants to ensure that laws and regulations are complied with.
ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric conditions among children and young people in Sweden, and more and more children are diagnosed. According to Jakob Forssmed, the proportion of boys between 10 and 17 years who receive ADHD drugs has increased by 800 percent in 20 years. A forecast from the National Board of Health and Welfare shows that around 15 percent of boys and close to 11 percent of girls will have an ADHD diagnosis in the future.
The number of diagnoses among children and young people increased by around 50 percent in the years 2019 to 2022 according to the National Board of Health and Welfare, which has not established any reasons for the increase.
– We see no tendency for the increase to decrease, says Jakob Forssmed.