title: Assessing treatment outcomes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a narrative review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review measures used to assess treatment response in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the life span.
  
  
  METHODS
  Keyword searches of English-language articles in the PubMed database up to and including the May 4, 2011, index date were performed with the search strings (1) (attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity [MeSH] OR ADHD) AND (outcome assessment [MeSH] OR adaptation of life skills OR executive function [MeSH]) and (2) (attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity [MeSH] OR ADHD) AND (function OR functioning OR quality of life [MeSH]).
  
  
  METHODS
  Articles found through this search were then selected based on relevance to the topic area; no specific quality criteria were applied.
  
  
  METHODS
  Narrative review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vast majority of studies assessing ADHD treatments have measured treatment response using ADHD symptom measures. Additional domains relevant for assessing treatment response among children and adults with ADHD include functional impairment, quality of life, adaptive life skills, and executive function. Validated rating scales exist for assessing these additional domains, but there has been minimal research evaluating the sensitivity of these instruments for detecting treatment response in pediatric and adult samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Assessment of treatment outcomes in ADHD should move beyond symptom assessment to incorporate measures of functioning, quality of life, adaptive skills, and executive function, especially when assessing long-term treatment response. The authors recommend a potential battery and schedule of measures that could be used to more comprehensively assess treatment response in patients with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Dr Epstein); and The Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada (Dr Weiss).
authors.forename: Jeffery N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: Margaret D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Weiss