Dyskinesia in Treatment-Naive and Stimulant-Treated Children With ADHD.

Stimulants are safe and effective medications for the treatment of ADHD. There are a number of case studies that report stimulant-induced dyskinesia. The aim of this study was to compare dyskinesia in a treated and a treatment-naive group of children with ADHD, and a healthy control group. Children aged 6 to 18 years were involved in the study ( = 158). Diagnosis of ADHD was measured with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Kid (MINI Kid). Dyskinesia was assessed with the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). Before methylphenidate administration, the treated ADHD group showed significantly higher AIMS total score than the control group ( = .001) and the treatment-naive ADHD group ( < .001). We found the same pattern 1.5 hr after methylphenidate administration. These results call attention that clinicians should take special care for the possible development of dyskinesia during the treatment of their ADHD patients with methylphenidate.