title: Pilot study of the efficacy of empowering patients through coaching as a complementary therapy in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most frequent neurodevelopmental disorder and must be considered a public health priority because of its functional repercussions in school, family, and social settings. Health empowerment is an innovative model of care for patients with chronic diseases based on self-management education. Our goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of empowerment using coaching within a multimodal treatment plan in paediatric patients with ADHD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive open prospective study. We included children between 6 and 12 years old belonging to patient association in a suburban area of the Region of Madrid. We evaluated the situation before and after 5 cost-free coaching sessions using the Conners Questionnaire, Dundee difficult times of day scale, and satisfaction scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 49 patients (73.5% males) with an average age of 8.5 years. The ADHD hyperactive-impulsive subtype was present in 63.3% and 77.6% had some type of comorbidity. All were treated with methylphenidate and their clinical course was poor. Clinical improvements were observed in 79.6% with a 34.6% mean reduction in symptoms (SD 11.1), and improvements remained stable at 6 months follow-up after coaching. We reached a satisfaction level of 7.8 out of 10 (SD 1.7), and 95.9% of the participants recommended this treatment to other families.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide information on the potential benefits of coaching as complementary treatment for ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Neuropediatría, Instituto del Niño y del Adolescente, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos , España. Electronic address: adrian.garciar@salud.madrid.org.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García Ron
authors.affiliation: Coach en salud, Comunidad de Madrid, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Serrano Grasa
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Neuropediatría, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blanco Lago
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Neuropediatría, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huete Hernani
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pérez Martinez
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate
keywords: Attention deficit; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Coaching; Déficit de atención; Empoderar; Empowerment; Hiperactividad; Hyperactivity; Psicoestimulantes; Psychostimulants; Trastorno por déficit de atención e hiperactividad