[Effects of methylphenidate in auditory processing evaluation of children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder].
OBJECTIVE
To compare the performance of a group of children and adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) pre and post-methylphenidate use in a behavioral auditory processing test battery (AP).


METHODS
Twenty-nine subjects, male and female, ranging from 7 to 15 years old have undergone different behavioral auditory processing tests. A control group composed of 29 subjects with and without learning disabilities was also evaluated.


RESULTS
The group with ADHD had a performance similar to the control group without learning disabilities which improved after medication. The group with learning disabilities and without ADHD had the worst performance in tests while the group without learning disabilities and without ADHD exhibited the best ones.


CONCLUSIONS
The AP battery was unable to distinguish ADHD patients from paired controls; the use of methylphenidate improved the performance on AP tests of ADHD group in the post-medication evaluation.
Cavadas
Marcia
M
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Domingos Mondim 165, 21920-160 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. marciacavadas@superig.com.br
Pereira
Liliane Desgualdo
LD
Mattos
Paulo
P
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000187:drug effects*; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000187:drug effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate