Methylphenidate in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): experience from a Sri Lankan Tertiary Children's Hospital.

The response to methylphenidate was assessed in children diagnosed as having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2000 at the Lady Ridgeway Tertiary Hospital for Children in Sri Lanka. They were managed in outpatient child psychiatry clinics. ADHD was diagnosed according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV). The severity of the symptoms was determined with a validated Sinhala assessment form based on DSM-IV criteria. The data on problems experienced by the diagnosed children and their families were obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The severity of the symptoms and problems experienced by the children and their families were reassessed at 6 weeks and 6 months of methylphenidate therapy. Thirty-seven new subjects were diagnosed as having ADHD in 2000, and 36 of them were treated with methylphenidate. The severity of the symptoms and the number of subjects receiving frequent complaints from school were significantly lower 6 weeks after methylphenidate treatment. At 6 months of treatment, the severity of the symptoms was not significantly reduced when compared with the severity assessed 6 weeks after treatment. Methylphenidate did help with school-related problems in the short term, but the long-term effects of methylphenidate were not convincing in this group of subjects and showed poor long-term compliance, probably owing to inadequate improvement seen in symptoms.