Pharmacology - Study links ADHD drugs with better test scores

[bananaskin]

Study links ADHD drugs with better test scores
CHICAGO
28/04/2009 12:00:00 AM
Children on medicine for attention deficit disorder scored higher on academic tests than their unmedicated peers in the first large, long-term study suggesting this kind of benefit from the widely used drugs.

The nationally representative study followed nearly 600 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from kindergarten to Year 5.

It examined results on several standardised maths and reading tests taken during those years.

Average scores for medicated children were almost three points higher in maths and more than five points higher in reading than for those not taking ADHD drugs. The difference amounted to about three months ahead in reading and two months in maths, the researchers said.

Both groups had lower scores on average than a separate group of children without ADHD. The researchers acknowledged that gap, but said the benefits for medicated youngsters were still notable.

The lead author and professor at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Public Health, Richard Scheffler, said, ''We're not trying to say in this study that medication is the only answer.''

However, the results suggested benefits that parents, educators and policy-makers should not ignore. The researchers agreed that other treatment ADHD children often received including behaviour therapy and tutoring could help, but the study didn't look at those measures.

Most ADHD drug users in the study were on stimulants, but the study did not identify which ones.

Some four million US children have been diagnosed with ADHD. About half take prescription medication often powerful stimulants like Ritalin to control extreme fidgetiness and impulsive behaviour which characterise the condition.

Children with ADHD often struggle in class and get lower grades than their classmates. They also have higher dropout rates.

American Academy of Paediatrics guidelines say stimulant drugs are effective but that behaviour techniques should also be used.

Teachers often advocate medication because it can calm disruptive behaviour. But it's a contentious issue for many parents, worried about putting their children on drugs that can have side-effects including decreased appetite, weight loss and insomnia.

Previous evidence suggested teachers gave higher grades to ADHD students on medication, but the study authors said that might simply mean teachers preferred them because they were better behaved than unmedicated children.

They said theirs was the largest, longest-duration study based on objective standardised academic tests suggesting that medicated children might be better learners, too.

Psychiatry professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago Dr Bennett Leventhal who was not involved in the study called the results impressive. ''It doesn't mean that every child with ADHD should be taking medication,'' he said. However, previous studies had suggested that most affected children could benefit.

The study appears in the May issue of Pediatrics, published yesterday. A federal grant paid for the research; the authors said they had no financial ties to ADHD drug-makers.

A psychiatrist with Chicago's Rush University Medical Centre, Dr Louis Kraus, said he worried the study would make parents turn to medication without considering other options. Behavioral treatment generally should be tried first.

A second-year undergraduate at Berkeley, Blake Taylor, 19, who has been on ADHD medication since he was five, said the results were not surprising. Medication ''doesn't make me smarter'', he said. ''It allows me to focus, to be more organised.'' He recalled doing poorly on a high school exam that he'd studied hard for, but he hadn't taken his ADHD medication that day.

He said his mind kept wandering, thinking about war posters on the classroom walls and noise from children playing outside.

Mr Taylor said when he was younger he sometimes skipped his medicine because, like many teens, ''I didn't want to be different from my other classmates.''

His other treatments have included counselling and tutoring. His daily workouts also helped use up excess energy.


http://www.canberratimes.com.au

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks for posting, this is a very interesting study