Worldwide, an estimated 2–5% of the population experiences symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, with overtaxed mental health systems across the world, diagnosing ADHD can take months or even years.
By leveraging advancements in digital cognitive testing, providers can make ADHD assessments more accessible without compromising scientific validity or result accuracy. This may mean shorter wait times, less risk of misdiagnosis, and higher quality of care for patients.
In this post, we’ll explore the ways that pairing tried and true behavioral questionnaires with cognitive tasks can reduce barriers to diagnosis and improve clinical decision-making.
Getting ADHD diagnosed is a multistep process that typically involves initial screening as well as conducting clinical interviews. Only after providers have sufficient data can a diagnosis be made and a treatment plan be made. While many individuals may show signs that resemble ADHD, these symptoms may be a manifestation of another related condition or may stem from a different reason entirely. An accurate diagnosis of ADHD must meet specific diagnostic criteria.
ADHD symptoms can significantly impact a patient’s daily life; a quick assessment by a family doctor or mental health professional can offer clarity, but an official diagnosis can open the door for long-term assistance. Initially, a patient might brush off symptoms as being “a little spacey” or “a little restless,” but if these traits lead to real-world consequences, intervention is important.
For example, an adult struggling with overwhelming disorganization, poor task follow-through, and constant distractions at work may experience burnout. A screen can help to identify whether these issues stem from ADHD or other causes.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) outlines three types of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder:
To meet the DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing ADHD, patients must:
A quick initial screen, potentially billable through CPT Code 96127, is often the first step in getting the diagnostic process moving, and is meant to flag whether or not deeper evaluation is needed.
Standardized behavior rating scales offer useful structure, but they rely heavily on subjective interpretation of symptoms. Combining them with digital cognitive assessment tools, such as those offered by Creyos, helps providers also gather objective data regarding ADHD symptoms.
If the initial screen flags symptoms consistent with ADHD, the next step in diagnosing ADHD is likely a structured interview. This may take place in primary care settings or through referrals to psychologists, psychiatrists, or other trained healthcare providers.
After reaching a proper diagnosis, treatment is often individualized based on symptom severity, age, and any comorbid conditions.
About 32% of children with ADHD receive a combination of medication and behavioral treatment for the condition, offering support from multiple angles.
Ongoing treatment requires more than a one-time ADHD test. Monitoring both subjective reports and objective data helps clinicians determine whether interventions are actually working.
This is especially important when medication is used to treat ADHD. Medication can improve cognitive function, but can also introduce side effects.
Readministering ADHD self-reports can gather snapshots of patients’ lived experiences with symptoms. However, online cognitive assessments can objectively track changes in attention, memory, and processing speed across multiple appointments. Combining these tools keeps treatment plans adaptive and responsive to each patient’s needs.
Behavioral questionnaires remain a cornerstone of ADHD assessment, offering quick, low-cost insight into core symptoms and impairment. However, their reliance on subjective reporting can impact accuracy when diagnosing ADHD, especially when comorbid mental health disorders are involved.
While these tools help clinicians gather input from multiple observers, they are prone to bias, overreporting, and underreporting. Pairing them with objective cognitive assessments adds critical context to support a diagnosis of ADHD.
Despite growing awareness, getting an ADHD diagnosis comes with a few hurdles:
In many regions, patients face months-long referral delays before they can see a specialist for an ADHD assessment. With rising demand for diagnosing ADHD, primary care providers are often overburdened, and patients may bounce between professionals before receiving a proper diagnosis.
Digital screening tools can provide accurate data early, streamlining triage and reducing unnecessary referrals. For SohoMD, working with Creyos helps them diagnose and stabilize ADHD symptoms in as few as four visits.
In one study, 25% of parents said they would not want their child to make friends with a child with ADHD. For children, ADHD stigma often stems from school settings, where kids are expected to sit still, focus, and follow routines. Their ADHD symptoms can affect feedback from teachers and peers, who may be more likely to reject children with ADHD as friends.
Stigma also leads to low self-esteem for adults with ADHD, who may internalize symptoms as personal failures. This stigma delays help-seeking.
Many individuals, and especially women and girls with ADHD, develop coping strategies that mask ADHD symptoms. While masking can make it easier to “fit in,” it also often leads to late or missed diagnoses.
Chronic masking is also linked to ADHD burnout, where executive dysfunction is related to breakdowns in work, relationships, and mental health.
ADHD diagnosis is shaped by social factors like gender and race. For example, girls with ADHD are more often overlooked because of how symptoms typically present, and as a result, are diagnosed an average of five years later than boys. Studies show that 6% of girls between the ages of 3 and 17 are diagnosed with ADHD, while 13% of boys in the same cohort receive a diagnosis.
When it comes to racial bias, African American and Hispanic youth are more likely to receive a disruptive behavior disorder diagnosis rather than ADHD compared to their White peers.
Along with behavioral challenges, ADHD is linked with cognitive performance across patients’ lifespans. Both adults and children with ADHD commonly experience impairments in executive function, working memory, processing speed, and sustained attention.
As children mature, these symptoms may evolve rather than disappear.
While symptoms may present differently with age, they are linked with the same underlying cognitive challenges. This is where objective cognitive assessments add value to ADHD screening. By tracking performance on key domains like attention, memory, and executive function, providers can observe how symptoms objectively affect functioning—not just how patients describe them.
The Creyos Health ADHD Protocol and Report offers a scientifically validated digital approach to diagnosing ADHD and guiding treatment. It combines standardized questionnaires with five cognitive tasks measuring 14 key ADHD markers, helping providers quickly and confidently assess both subjective and objective symptoms.
By combining subjective patient reporting with objective cognitive data, providers can improve the diagnostic timeframe, as well as reduce misdiagnosis. With the help of Creyos cognitive assessments, Telapsychiatry reduced ADHD overdiagnosis by over 30% and helped their ADHD patients quickly access the documentation they needed to receive essential accommodations.
When ADHD is identified early, individuals have a better chance of building confidence, receiving treatment, and avoiding childhood feelings of failure. By combining self-reports with cutting-edge cognitive assessments, providers can diagnose ADHD faster and more accurately.
With the right guidance, people with ADHD can better understand how their minds work—and build on their strengths from the start.
Mike Battista specializes in brain health, cognition, and neuropsychological testing. He received his PhD in personality and measurement psychology at Western University in 2010 and has been doing fun and useful stuff in the intersection between science and technology ever since.