Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder diagnosed in increasing proportions of children and adolescents. The psychostimulant methylphenidate has been considered the first-line pharmacological treatment for children and adolescents with ADHD for mor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-08-01
|
| Series: | Pediatric Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2036-7503/13/3/50 |
| _version_ | 1797517624611962880 |
|---|---|
| author | Johanne Pereira Ribeiro Emma Jasmine Arthur Christian Gluud Erik Simonsen Ole Jakob Storebø |
| author_facet | Johanne Pereira Ribeiro Emma Jasmine Arthur Christian Gluud Erik Simonsen Ole Jakob Storebø |
| author_sort | Johanne Pereira Ribeiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder diagnosed in increasing proportions of children and adolescents. The psychostimulant methylphenidate has been considered the first-line pharmacological treatment for children and adolescents with ADHD for more than 60 years. Considering recent publications on methylphenidate for ADHD, we here give an overview of its effects in children and adolescents with ADHD, elicited by a well-disputed Cochrane review and narratively synthesise the evidence in the field. Method: We searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses that investigated methylphenidate as an intervention for children and adolescence with ADHD compared with placebo or no treatment. We assessed the quality of the evidence using AMSTAR II. Results: We found 24 eligible systematic reviews and meta-analyses of which 11 were rated as high- quality evidence according to AMSTAR II. The evidence claiming that methylphenidate is beneficial in treating children and adolescents with ADHD was of very low certainty. The underreporting of adverse events in randomised clinical trials may impede an adequate depiction of the balance between benefits and harms. Conclusions: It appears that there is uncertain evidence on group-level to support the claim that methylphenidate is beneficial in treating children and adolescents with ADHD. Future randomised clinical trials and systematic reviews should include individual participant data, which would allow us to assess intervention effects across modifiers, like age, sex, ADHD subtypes, comorbidities, and dose. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:19:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3bfe4ec5adfc47e6bbdd4b1c562a2161 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2036-7503 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:19:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pediatric Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-3bfe4ec5adfc47e6bbdd4b1c562a21612023-11-22T14:43:50ZengMDPI AGPediatric Reports2036-75032021-08-0113343444310.3390/pediatric13030050Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?Johanne Pereira Ribeiro0Emma Jasmine Arthur1Christian Gluud2Erik Simonsen3Ole Jakob Storebø4Center for Evidence-Based Psychiatry, Psychiatric Research Unit, Psychiatry Region Zealand, 4200 Slagelse, DenmarkCenter for Evidence-Based Psychiatry, Psychiatric Research Unit, Psychiatry Region Zealand, 4200 Slagelse, DenmarkDepartment of Regional Health Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense, DenmarkCenter for Evidence-Based Psychiatry, Psychiatric Research Unit, Psychiatry Region Zealand, 4200 Slagelse, DenmarkCenter for Evidence-Based Psychiatry, Psychiatric Research Unit, Psychiatry Region Zealand, 4200 Slagelse, DenmarkObjective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder diagnosed in increasing proportions of children and adolescents. The psychostimulant methylphenidate has been considered the first-line pharmacological treatment for children and adolescents with ADHD for more than 60 years. Considering recent publications on methylphenidate for ADHD, we here give an overview of its effects in children and adolescents with ADHD, elicited by a well-disputed Cochrane review and narratively synthesise the evidence in the field. Method: We searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses that investigated methylphenidate as an intervention for children and adolescence with ADHD compared with placebo or no treatment. We assessed the quality of the evidence using AMSTAR II. Results: We found 24 eligible systematic reviews and meta-analyses of which 11 were rated as high- quality evidence according to AMSTAR II. The evidence claiming that methylphenidate is beneficial in treating children and adolescents with ADHD was of very low certainty. The underreporting of adverse events in randomised clinical trials may impede an adequate depiction of the balance between benefits and harms. Conclusions: It appears that there is uncertain evidence on group-level to support the claim that methylphenidate is beneficial in treating children and adolescents with ADHD. Future randomised clinical trials and systematic reviews should include individual participant data, which would allow us to assess intervention effects across modifiers, like age, sex, ADHD subtypes, comorbidities, and dose.https://www.mdpi.com/2036-7503/13/3/50ADHDattention deficit hyperactivity disordermethylphenidatestimulantschildrenadolescents |
| spellingShingle | Johanne Pereira Ribeiro Emma Jasmine Arthur Christian Gluud Erik Simonsen Ole Jakob Storebø Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? Pediatric Reports ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder methylphenidate stimulants children adolescents |
| title | Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? |
| title_full | Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? |
| title_fullStr | Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? |
| title_short | Does Methylphenidate Work in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? |
| title_sort | does methylphenidate work in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder |
| topic | ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder methylphenidate stimulants children adolescents |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2036-7503/13/3/50 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johannepereiraribeiro doesmethylphenidateworkinchildrenandadolescentswithattentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder AT emmajasminearthur doesmethylphenidateworkinchildrenandadolescentswithattentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder AT christiangluud doesmethylphenidateworkinchildrenandadolescentswithattentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder AT eriksimonsen doesmethylphenidateworkinchildrenandadolescentswithattentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder AT olejakobstorebø doesmethylphenidateworkinchildrenandadolescentswithattentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder |