Mayo Clinic study indicates medication for ADHD may help studen...( ROCHESTER Minn. -- In an 18-year-st...),Health

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In an 18-year-study on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mayo Clinic researchers found that treatment with prescription stimulants is associated with improved long-term academic success of children with ADHD. The Mayo Clinic results are the first population-based data to show stimulant drug therapy helps improve long-term school outcomes.

A related Mayo Clinic study reveals that compared to children without AD/HD, children with ADHD are at risk for poor long-term school outcomes such as low achievement in reading, absenteeism, repeating a grade, and dropping out of school. Both studies appear in the current edition of the Journal of Development & Behavioral Pediatrics, (http://www.jrnldbp.com).

Nearly 2 million children, or approximately 3 percent to 5 percent of young children in the United States, have ADHD. This disorder affects a childs ability to focus, concentrate and control impulsive behavior (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm). This disorder is so common that most school classrooms have at least one child with clinically-diagnosed ADHD.

In this study, treatment with stimulant medication during childhood was associated with more favorable long-term school outcomes, explains William Barbaresi, M.D., Mayo Clinic pediatrician and lead author of the reports.

Significance of the Mayo Clinic Studies

The two Mayo Clinic studies are the first population-based, long-term studies to investigate links between ADHD, school performance and factors that modify long-term school performance of children with ADHD. Researchers followed the children from the time they were born for, on average, 18 years. Of the more than 5,000 children evaluated, 370 (277 boys and 93 girls) were identified as having ADHD. Researchers matched them by age and gender to 740 children who did not meet the
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