# Wider health needs in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from lived and professional experience: a qualitative framework analysis

## TL;DR

This study explores the physical and mental health needs of people with ADHD, highlighting complex challenges and gaps in healthcare support from both personal and professional perspectives.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is a qualitative framework revealing the interplay of individual and social factors affecting health in ADHD.

## Key findings

- Health problems in ADHD are complex and influenced by both individual and social factors.
- There are significant differences in healthcare expectations and actual support received.
- Themes of understanding health, barriers to health, and addressing health emerged from participant perspectives.

## Abstract

This study aimed to explore the perspectives of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), their supporters and primary care professionals (PCPs), on the wider physical and mental health needs of people with ADHD and the support currently available.

Qualitative semi-structured interviews, analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Five general practice surgeries across England.

Participants with lived experience (people with ADHD and their supporters (n=11)) and PCPs (n=9) (eg, general practitioners and practice managers), recruited via clinical academic networks and previous work packages of this study.

We generated three major themes in relation to ADHD, using reflexive thematic analysis: understanding health, barriers to health and addressing health. Within these, participants reflected on mental and physical health challenges, as well as wider social difficulties and variability in support offered/accessed.

This study highlights that health problems in ADHD are complex and rooted both in individual factors (eg, mental health) and social factors (eg, support). This study also highlights the differences in expectations and fulfilment of healthcare.