Early treatment response as predictor of long-term outcome in a clinical cohort of children with ADHD.

This study investigates early onset of treatment response as predictor of symptomatic and functional outcome 3 years after initiation of methylphenidate (MPH) administration in a naturalistic, clinical cohort of children and adolescents with ADHD. Children were followed across an initial 12-week MPH treatment trial and after 3 years, with ratings of symptoms and impairment. Associations between a clinically significant MPH treatment response in week 3 (defined as ≥ 20% reduction in clinician-rated symptoms) and in week 12 (defined as ≥ 40% reduction), and 3-year outcome were tested in multivariate linear regression models, adjusting for sex, age, comorbidity, IQ, maternal education, parental psychiatric disorder, and baseline symptoms and function.

Outcomes of a 12-week ecologically valid observational study of first treatment with methylphenidate in a representative clinical sample of drug naïve children with ADHD.

Randomized placebo-controlled trials have reported efficacy of methylphenidate (MPH) for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, selection biases due to strict entry criteria may limit the generalizability of the findings. Few ecologically valid studies have investigated effectiveness of MPH in representative clinical populations of children. This independently funded study aims to describe treatment responses and their predictors during the first 12 weeks of MPH treatment using repeated measurements of symptoms and adverse reactions (ARs) to treatment in 207 children recently diagnosed with ADHD.

[Overweight and eating disorders in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder].

Recent studies have generally found an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity among children, adolescents and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and the latest research suggests, that ADHD is also associated with problematic eating behaviour and eating disorders. The pathways of these associations are still up for discussion, but both psychological and biological factors are important aspects. There is further-more a good theoretical basis for the assumption, that active drug treatment of ADHD may minimise the risk of overweight.