Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

National Institutes of Health
Consensus Development Conference Statement
November 16-18, 1998

cont.

4. What Are the Risks of the Use of Stimulant Medication and Other Treatments?

Although little information exists concerning the long-term effects of psychostimulants, there is no conclusive evidence that careful therapeutic use is harmful. When adverse drug reactions do occur, they are usually related to dose. Effects associated with moderate doses may include decreased appetite and insomnia. These effects occur early in treatment and may decrease with continued dosing. There may be negative effects on growth rate, but ultimate height appears not to be affected.

It is well known that psychostimulants have abuse potential. Very high doses of psychostimulants, particularly of amphetamines, may cause central nervous system damage, cardiovascular damage, and hypertension. In addition, high doses have been associated with compulsive behaviors and, in certain vulnerable individuals, movement disorders. There is a rare percentage of children and adults treated at high doses who have hallucinogenic responses. Drugs used for ADHD other than psychostimulants have their own adverse reactions: tricyclic antidepressants may induce cardiac arrhythmias, bupropion at high doses can cause seizures, and pemoline is associated with liver damage.

The degree of assessment and followup by primary care physicians varies significantly. This variance may contribute to the marked differences in appropriate prescribing practices. Adequate followup is required for any prescribed medications, especially for higher doses of psychostimulants.

Although an increased risk of drug abuse and cigarette smoking is associated with childhood ADHD (see Question 2), existing studies come to conflicting conclusions as to whether use of psychostimulants increases or decreases the risk of abuse. A major limitation of inferences from observational databases is the inability to examine independently the use of stimulant medication, the diagnosis and severity of ADHD, and the effect of coexisting conditions.

The increased availability of stimulant medications may pose risks for society. The threshold of drug availability that can lead to oversupply and consequent illicit use is unknown. There is little evidence that current levels of production have had a substantial effect on abuse. However, there is a need to be vigilant in monitoring the national indices of use and abuse of stimulants among high school seniors. One of the indices is the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN).

5. What Are the Existing Diagnostic and Treatment Practices, and What Are the Barriers to Appropriate Identification, Evaluation, and Intervention?

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has published practice parameters for the assessment and treatment of ADHD. The American Academy of Pediatrics has formed a subcommittee to establish parameters for pediatricians, but those guidelines are not available at this time. Primary care and developmental pediatricians, family practitioners, (child) neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists are the providers responsible for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of most children with ADHD. There is wide variation among types of practitioners with respect to frequency of diagnosis of ADHD. Data indicate that family practitioners diagnose more quickly and prescribe medication more frequently than psychiatrists or pediatricians. This may be due in part to the limited time spent making the diagnosis. Some practitioners invalidly use response to medication as a diagnostic criterion, and primary care practitioners are less likely to recognize comorbid (coexisting) disorde rs. The quickness with which some practitioners prescribe medications may decrease the likelihood that more educationally relevant interventions will be sought.

Diagnoses may be made in an inconsistent manner with children sometimes being overdiagnosed and sometimes underdiagnosed. However, this does not affect the validity of the diagnosis when appropriate guidelines are used. Some practitioners do not use structured parent questionnaires, rating scales, or teacher or school input. Pediatricians, family practitioners, and psychiatrists tend to rely on parent rather than teacher input. There appears to be a disconnect between developmental or educational (school-based) assessments and health-related (medical practice-based) services. There is often poor communication between diagnosticians and those who implement and monitor treatment in schools. In addition, followup may be inadequate and fragmented. This is particularly important to ensure monitoring and early detection of any adverse effect of therapy. School-based clinics with a team appr oach that includes parents, teachers, school psychologists, and other mental health specialists may be a means to remove these barriers and improve access to assessment and treatment. Ideally, primary care practitioners with adequate time for consultation with such school teams should be able to make an appropriate assessment and diagnosis, but they should also be able to refer to mental health and other specialists when deemed necessary.

What are the barriers to appropriate identification, evaluation, and intervention?

Studies identify a number of barriers to appropriate identification, evaluation, and treatment. Barriers to identification and evaluation arise when central screening programs limit access to mental health services. The lack of insurance coverage for psychiatric or psychological evaluations, behavior modification programs, school consultation, parent management training, and other specialized programs presents a major barrier to accurate classification, diagnosis, and management of ADHD. Substantial cost barriers exist in that diagnosis results in out-of-pocket costs to families for services not covered by managed care or other health insurance. Mental health benefits are carved out of many policies offered to families, and thus access to treatment other than medication might be severely limited. Parity for mental health conditions in insurance plans is essential. Another cost implication lies in the fact that there is no funded special education catego ry specifically for ADHD, which leaves these students underserved, and there is currently no tracking or monitoring of children with ADHD who are served outside of special education. This results in educational and mental health service sources disputing responsibility for coverage of special educational services.

Barriers exist in relationship to gender, race, socioeconomic factors, and geographical distribution of physicians who identify and evaluate patients with ADHD.

Other important barriers include those perceived by patients, families, and clinicians. These include lack of information, concerns about risks of medications, loss of parental rights, fear of professionals, social stigma, negative pressures from families and friends against seeking treatment, and jeopardizing jobs and military service. For health care providers, the lack of specialists and difficulties obtaining insurance coverage as outlined above present significant obstacles to care.

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