Medicalization as an international health problem. written media online on ADHD in Argentina (2001-2017)

Abstract

In the context of changes in the globalization process, medicalization constitutes a central problem in the international health agenda.

During the 1990s, the international expansion of the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) began, among other factors, due to the growing relevance of non-medical actors in the process, and specific legislation for diverse diagnosis.

The paper seeks to contribute to an analysis of the space provided by the online written press, to the processes of medicalization of ADHD in Argentina in the 21st century. It also seeks to provide a panoramic reading of the processes in the region and at an international level. Additionally we intend the paper to function as a contribution to a vacancy area in social studies in this regard.

For this paper, we analyzed 236 on line articles of Argentine newspapers of national and provincial scope between 2001 and 2017. For the survey, selection and filter mechanisms were designed, with criteria and tools for search and processing of news. Regularity estimates were made of emerging topics, and partial information processing was required, including among other dimensions: year, jurisdiction, medium, date, section, title, category, characteristics of the note, keywords, concept or name of the problem, drug, treatment, social actors and recommendations, among others.

With the article we are interested to swell the still few studies that contribute to the understanding of how the diagnosis of ADHD is migrating to different regions of the globe, and more specifically, how it is positioning itself as an international health problem.

The results show that, in the medicalization processes of ADHD in boys and girls, the Argentine written press (national and provincial) becomes a relevant non-medical actor both in the institutionalization of the problem, and in the presentation of therapeutic lines to follow and in actions aimed at promoting specific legislation.