Treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: patterns of evolving care during the first treatment episode.

Objective: This study sought to better understand factors associated with different patterns of treatment among children starting treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: Factors associated with service utilization and pharmacy claims data for 2,077 Medicaid-enrolled children aged six to 12 who started treatment for ADHD between October 2006 and December 2007 in a large mid-Atlantic state were investigated by using logistic regressions and Cox proportional hazard models.

Results: A total of 45% of children started ADHD treatment with a psychosocial intervention alone, 41% of children started treatment with medication alone, and 14% of children started treatment with a combination of both treatments.