title: Pharmacotherapy for treatment of attention deficits after non-progressive acquired brain injury. A systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To systematically review the effectiveness of medications used to improve attention in people with non-progressive acquired brain injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINALH, PUBMED and PsychINFO databases were used to identify studies published between 1987 and 2008 meeting the following criteria: studies with subjects older than 18 years; diagnosis of new onset or previous acquired brain injury; medication given to improve attention and use of outcome to measure attention. Studies involving subjects in low arousal states or with neurogenerative conditions were excluded. The studies were categorized into three evidence levels: I - Randomized controlled trials; II - Prospective studies, controlled trials with methodological limitations; and III - Retrospective studies, clinical case series.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-seven articles were identified on initial search. Twenty-six met the pre-specified criteria. Five articles were assessed as meeting the level I evidence criteria, 12 were level II studies and 9 were level III studies. Methylphenidate can improve information processing speed but not all attention aspects in some people after traumatic brain injury. There is weak evidence for use of dopamine agonists to improve neglect/inattention after stroke. There is little evidence on the frequency of adverse effects and long-term functional benefits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although there is lack of robust evidence to recommend the routine use of medication to improve attention after traumatic brain injury and stroke, the existing evidence indicates potential for benefit in some patents and therefore further research is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. M.Sivan@leeds.ac.uk
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sivan
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stroud
authors.forename: Bipinchandra B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Bhakta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans