title: Adaptive skills are useful for evaluating the effect of pharmacological treatment in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are few long-term studies of adaptive functions as an outcome measure of pharmacological treatment in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study assessed the adaptive abilities of children with ADHD before and after several years of pharmacological treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 12 children with a mean age of 15 years - seven boys and five girls - who had continued pharmacological treatment for ADHD for more than four years. The Adaptive Behaviour Assessment Scales - Second Edition ratings by their teachers were compared before and after they had received treatment for ADHD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On a group level, the conceptual, practical and general adaptive composite domains improved significantly between the baseline and follow-up study. There were clear individual variations: more than half of the group increased from an adaptive level far below average to average, a minority displayed no major changes, and one individual deteriorated. The girls tended to have better outcomes than the boys.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study was nonrandomised and only analysed within-group changes in a small number of participants. However, the findings suggest that four to five years of stimulant treatment had markedly positive effects on adaptive functioning in more than half of the school-age children with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lindblad
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Centre, Skaraborg's Hospital, Skövde, Sweden.
authors.forename: Salmir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nasic
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.|Unit of Developmental Disorders, Skaraborg's Hospital, Mariestad, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landgren
authors.affiliation: Unit of Developmental Disorders, Skaraborg's Hospital, Mariestad, Sweden.
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillberg
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernell
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011581:Psychological Tests; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants
keywords: 
  ADHD
  ; Adaptive function; outcome; pharmacological treatment