Percentage of children ages 12 to 17 ever having been diagnosed with a learning disability or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, by selected characteristics: Selected years, 1999 through 2008

NCES 2012-026
December 2011

Youth Indicators 2011
America’s Youth: Transitions to Adulthood

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Table 46.	Percentage of children ages 12 to 17 ever having been diagnosed with a learning disability or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, by selected characteristics: Selected years, 1999 through 2008

Characteristic	Learning disability¹						Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)²
Characteristic	1999	2002	2005		2008		1999		2002		2005		2008
Total	9.6	10.5	9.2		9.4		7.7		9.6		8.9		11.0

Sex
Male	13.0	13.8	11.0		11.4		11.4		13.6		12.5		16.6
Female	6.0	7.1	7.4		7.3		3.8		5.3		5.1		5.3

Age
12–14 years	10.3	10.5	9.1		8.3		8.8		9.6		8.4		9.6
15–17 years	8.9	10.6	9.3		10.3		6.6		9.5		9.4		12.3

Race/ethnicity
White	10.4	11.0	9.3		11.2		9.4		10.9		10.4		13.8
Black	10.3	12.6	10.8		9.1		5.0		10.9		8.4		11.4
Hispanic	6.4	7.0	8.2		5.9		4.0		4.2		6.1		4.1
Asian	‡	‡	‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
American Indian/Alaska Native	‡	‡	‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
Two or more races	‡	‡	‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
Other races³	‡	23.3	14.4	!	9.0	!	‡		12.5	!	6.2	!	10.3	!

Parent's education⁴
Less than high school diploma	7.2	10.3	5.8		4.6	!	7.0		6.4		3.5	!	1.2	!
High school completion only	9.4	12.1	10.6		10.8		7.7		10.2		9.3		10.9
Some college or higher	8.3	8.4	8.2		8.0		7.2		8.0		8.2		10.9

Poverty status⁵
Poor	13.0	16.6	15.1		15.8		10.3		12.7		8.1		12.3
Near-poor	12.3	11.8	9.9		9.7		7.3		10.7		11.1		9.7
Nonpoor	9.0	9.9	7.9		8.0		8.8		9.8		8.9		11.5

Health insurance coverage⁶
Private	8.4	9.0	7.6		7.3		7.3		9.0		8.6		10.1
Medicaid/other public	18.5	16.3	15.1		16.8		10.3		12.7		11.3		14.5
Other	‡	‡	8.6	!	8.9	!	6.7	!	10.9	!	7.7	!	18.4	!
Uninsured	8.1	10.9	8.5		4.2		7.3		7.3		6.2		7.4

Current health status⁷
Excellent/very good	7.6	8.6	8.0		7.4		6.9		8.2		8.3		9.2
Good	15.3	16.1	12.1		16.9		10.0		14.3		9.5		18.4
Fair/poor	43.2	41.2	29.5		29.9		20.6		28.6		23.8		25.7

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 30 percent or greater.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

¹ "Learning disability" is based on the question "Has a representative from a school or a health professional ever told you that [child's name] had a learning disability?"

^{2 "}Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" is based on the question "Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that [child's name] had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)?"

³ Includes Pacific Islanders.

⁴Parent's education is the education level of the parent with the higher level of education. "High school completion only" includes equivalency certification.

5 Children in families whose incomes are below the poverty threshold are classified as poor; those in families with incomes at 100–199 percent of the poverty threshold are classified as near-poor, and those in families with incomes at 200 percent or more of the poverty threshold are classified as nonpoor. Detail may not sum to totals because of missing values for poverty.

6 Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Persons with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category in the hierarchy. "Private" includes persons who had any type of private coverage, either alone or in combination with other coverage. "Uninsured" includes persons who had no coverage as well as those who had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service, such as accidents or dental care.

⁷ Data based on respondent self-response to survey question on general health status.

NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, selected years, 1999–2008.