Are ADHD medications overprescribed or underprescribed? (Quick answer: both)

Although medication treatment for ADHD has been shown to significantly reduce core ADHD symptoms in hundreds of studies, important concerns remain about it being prescribed inappropriately to children and teens who do not have ADHD. There is also evidence that many youth with ADHD who could potentially benefit from medication treatment do not receive it, and may realize poorer outcomes in as a result. Estimating the rate of the over- and under-use of ADHD medication is challenging, and a recent study provides the most comprehensive examination to date of this important issue: Assessing under-treatment and over-treatment of ADHD medications in children and adolescents across continents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. [Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews, 128, 64–73.] The Study: The authors began by identifying all published studies of community samples, i.e., representative community members and not samples of those seeking treatment, in which ADHD diagnoses and ADHD medication treatment status was obtained. Over 25,000 potentially relevant studies were screened and a final sample of 36 studies meeting rigorous selection criteria were ultimately selected for review. These studies included over 100,000 participants and were conducted in multiple continents. Because these were community samples, some participants had been previously been diagnosed with ADHD (based on parent report of a prior diagnosis) and some did not have a prior diagnosis but were identified as havi...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Attention & ADD/ADHD Brain/ Mental Health Source Type: blogs