Management of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in UK primary care: a survey of general practitioners

dc.contributor.authorMcCarthy, Suzanne
dc.contributor.authorWilton, Lynda
dc.contributor.authorMurray, Macey
dc.contributor.authorHodgkins, Paul
dc.contributor.authorAsherson, Philip
dc.contributor.authorWong, Ian C. K.
dc.contributor.funderShire Development LLC., United Statesen
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-01T08:58:16Z
dc.date.available2016-09-01T08:58:16Z
dc.date.issued2013-02-22
dc.description.abstractBackground: Compared to existing literature on childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little published adult data are available, particularly outside of the United States. Using General Practitioner (GP) questionnaires from the United Kingdom, this study aimed to examine a number of issues related to ADHD in adults, across three cohorts of patients, adults who received ADHD drug treatment in childhood/adolescence but stopped prior to adulthood; adults who received ADHD drug treatment in childhood/adolescence and continued treatment into adulthood and adults who started ADHD drug treatment in adulthood.Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of ADHD and prescribed methylphenidate, dexamfetamine or atomoxetine were identified using data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN). Dates when these drugs started and stopped were used to classify patients into the three cohorts. From each cohort, 50 patients were randomly selected and questionnaires were sent via THIN to their GPs.GPs returned completed questionnaires to THIN who forwarded anonymised copies to the researchers. Datasets were analysed using descriptive statistics.Results: Overall response rate was 89% (133/150). GPs stated that in 19 cases, the patient did not meet the criteria of that group; the number of valid questionnaires returned was 114 (76%). The following broad trends were observed: 1) GPs were not aware of the reason for treatment cessation in 43% of cases, 2) patient choice was the most common reason for discontinuation (56%), 3) 7% of patients who stopped pharmacological treatment subsequently reported experiencing ADHD symptoms, 4) 58% of patients who started pharmacological treatment for ADHD in adulthood received pharmacological treatment for other mental health conditions prior to the ADHD being diagnosed.Conclusion: This study presents some key findings relating to ADHD; GPs were often not aware of the reason for patients stopping ADHD treatment in childhood or adolescence. Patient choice was identified as the most common reason for treatment cessation. For patients who started pharmacological treatment in adulthood, many patients received pharmacological treatment for comorbidities before a diagnosis of ADHD was made.en
dc.description.sponsorshipShire Development LLC.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationMcCarthy, S., Wilton, L., Murray, M., Hodgkins, P., Asherson, P. and and Wong, I. C. K. (2013) 'Management of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in UK primary care: a survey of general practitioners', Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 11:22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-11-22en
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/1477-7525-11-22
dc.identifier.endpage22-12en
dc.identifier.issn1477-7525
dc.identifier.journaltitleHealth and Quality of Life Outcomesen
dc.identifier.startpage22-1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/3049
dc.identifier.volume11en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen
dc.rights© 2013 McCarthy et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en
dc.subjectAttention deficit hyperactivity disorderen
dc.subjectAdulten
dc.subjectStimulanten
dc.subjectPrimary careen
dc.subjectGeneral practitioneren
dc.titleManagement of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in UK primary care: a survey of general practitionersen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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