May 2009

A Better Way to Diagnose, Treat ADHD

A model offered by Cincinnati Children’s Center for ADHD offers doctors a more accurate and reliable way to diagnose and treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Jeff Epstein, PhD, and a team of physicians at the Center started the ADHD Collaborative, a program aimed at training community physicians to use evidence-based guidelines developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics for diagnosing and treating ADHD.

In the pilot phase of the Collaborative, Epstein and his colleagues trained more than 200 pediatricians in 60 Cincinnati-area practices to use the new model.

Before the training, some doctors relied primarily on the parent’s assessment of a child’s behavior. This often resulted in prescribing medication without a thorough evaluation.

“Using our model,” explains Epstein, “pediatricians routinely request parents and teachers to complete standardized rating scales, which are more reliable and accurate tools for deriving an ADHD diagnosis.”

The rating scales are available for parents and teachers to complete online through the ADHD Collaborative’s secure web portal. Doctors can access the portal and monitor the child’s treatment progress.

The upfront resources needed to set up efficient office systems aren’t detracting most physicians, said Epstein, noting significant improvement in patient’s ADHD symptoms and decreased functional impairment.

They published early results of the program in the July 2008 issue of Pediatrics.

The program is now being offered to practices around the country and the Center for ADHD is exploring ways to provide training through videoconferencing and the internet.