Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 5/2007

01-08-2007 | ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

The use of health care services and psychotropic medication in a community sample of 9-year-old schoolchildren with ADHD

Authors: Sabine Tremmery, Jan K. Buitelaar, Jean Steyaert, Geert Molenberghs, Frans J.M. Feron, Ariane C. Kalff, Petra P.M. Hurks, Jos G.M. Hendriksen, Johan S.H. Vles, Jelle Jolles

Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Issue 5/2007

Login to get access

Abstract

Objective

To examine the prevalence of the use of health care services and psychotropic medication within a community sample (N = 283) of 9-year-old school children and, more specifically, to evaluate the use of prescribed stimulants.

Methods

Data from the second follow-up phase of the “Study of Attention Deficit Maastricht” (SAM) were analysed. Assessments at age 9 included a structured psychiatric interview with parents, behaviour and family situation questionnaire, IQ estimate and global assessment scale. Use of health care services and medication was obtained by the DICA-R and from the Youth Health Care records.

Results

About 190 children of the selected sample had at least one child psychiatric diagnosis, 26 (14%) of them were clinically referred and 12 (6%) received stimulants. Of the children with ADHD (N = 45), 10/45 (22%) received stimulants. Conversely, 2 out of 12 children who were treated with stimulants did not meet full DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, but were subthreshold ADHD cases. The treatment status was highly dependent on being clinically referred.

Conclusion

The major finding of our survey is a lack of referral to child mental health services, and associated underdiagnosis and undertreatment, particularly in children with ADHD. There is a critical need to translate and implement the diagnostic and treatment guidelines to clinical practice.
Literature
1.
Achenbach T (ed) (1991) Manual for the child behavior checklist 4–18 and 1991 profile. University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry, Burlington
2.
Achenbach T (ed) (1991) Manual for the teacher’s report form and 1991 profile. University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry, Burlington
3.
Angold A, Erkanli A, Egger H-L, Costello E-J (2000) Stimulant treatment for children: a community perspective. J Am Acad Child and Adolesc Psychiatry 39:975–984CrossRef
4.
August G-J, Braswell L, Thuras P (1998) Diagnostic stability of ADHD in a community sample of school-age children screened for disruptive behavior. J Abnorm Child Psychol 26:345–356PubMedCrossRef
5.
De Groot A, Koot H, Verhulst F (1996) Cross-cultural generalizability of the Youth Self-Report and Teacher’s Report Form cross informant syndromes. J Abnorm Child Psychol 24:651–664PubMedCrossRef
6.
Goldman L-S, Genel M, Bezman R-J, Slanetz P-J (1998) Diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents. JAMA: J Am Med Assoc 279:1100–1107CrossRef
7.
Greenhill L-L, Halperin J-M, Abikof H (1999) Stimulant medications. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 38:503–512PubMedCrossRef
8.
Harrison C, Sofronoff K (2002) ADHD and parental psychological distress: role of demographics, child behavioral characteristics, and parental cognitions. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 41:703–711PubMedCrossRef
9.
Hoagwood K, Kelleher KJ, Feil M, Comer DM (2000) Treatment services for children with ADHD: a national perspective. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39:198–206PubMedCrossRef
10.
Jensen PS, Kettle L, Roper MT, Sloan MT, Dulcan MK, Hoven C, Bird HR, Bauermeister JJ, Payne JD (1999) Are stimulants overprescribed? Treatment of ADHD in four U.S. communities. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 38:797–804PubMedCrossRef
11.
Kalff AC, Kroes M, Vles JS, Bosma H, Feron FJ, Hendriksen JG, Steyaert J, van Zeben TM, Crolla IF, Jolles J (2001) Factors affecting the relation between parental education as well as occupation and problem behaviour in Dutch 5- to 6-year-old children. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 36:324–331PubMedCrossRef
12.
Kalff AC, Kroes M, Vles JS, Hendriksen JG, Feron FJ, Steyaert J, van Zeben TM, Jolles J, van Os J (2001) Neighbourhood level and individual level SES effects on child problem behaviour: a multilevel analysis. J Epidemiol Community Health 55:246–250PubMedCrossRef
13.
Kortenbout van der Sluijs M, Levita D, Manen R, Defares P (1993) In: ADIKA, Amsterdams Diagnostisch Interview voor Kinderen en Adolescenten. Swetz and Zeitlinger, Lisse
14.
Kroes M, Kalff AC, Kessels AG, Steyaert J, Feron FJ, van Someren AJ, Hurks PP, Hendriksen JG, van Zeben TM, Rozendaal N, Crolla IF, Troost J, Jolles J, Vles JS (2001) Child psychiatric diagnoses in a population of Dutch schoolchildren aged 6 to 8 years. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:1401–1409PubMedCrossRef
15.
Lezak MD (1995) Neuropsychological Assessment. Oxford University Press, Oxford
16.
Pelham W-E Jr (1999) The NIMH multimodal treatment study for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: just say yes to drugs alone? Can J Psychiatry 44:981–990PubMed
17.
Pineda D-A, Ardila A, Rosselli M, Arias B-E, Henao G-C, Gomez L-F, Mejia S-E, Miranda M-L (1999) Prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in 4- to 17-year-old children in the general population. J Abnorm Child Psychol 27:455–462PubMedCrossRef
18.
Reich W, Shayla JJ, Taibleson C (1992) The diagnostic interview for children and adolescents—Revised (DICA-R) (structured psychiatric interview). Washington University, St Louis, MO
19.
Safer DJ, Zito JM, Fine EM (1996) Increased methylphenidate usage for attention deficit disorder in the 1990s. Pediatrics 98:1084–1088PubMed
20.
Salmelainen P (2002) Trends in the prescribing of stimulant medication for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents in New South Wales. N S W. Public Health Bull 13(Suppl S-1):1–65PubMed
21.
Sawyer MG, Rey JM, Graetz BW, Clark JJ, Baghurst PA (2002) Use of medication by young people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Med J Aust 177:21–25PubMed
22.
Sayal K, Taylor E (2004) Detection of child mental health disorders by general practitioners. Br J Gen Pract 54:348–352PubMed
23.
Schirm E, Tobi H, Zito JM, de Jong-van den Berg LT (2001) Psychotropic medication in children: a study from the Netherlands. Pediatrics 108:E25PubMedCrossRef
24.
Schubert I, Köster I, Adam C, Ihle P, Döpfner M, Lehmkuhl G (2003) Psychotropic drugs for children with the claims diagnosis “attention deficit/hyperkinetic disorder”. A drug utilisation study of outpatient care with person-related data of the Statutory Health Insurance (Versichertenstichprobe AOK Hessen/ KV Hessen, 1998–2001) Zeitschrift für Gesundheitswissenschaften 11:306–324
25.
Shaffer D, Gould M-S, Brasic J, Ambrosini P, Fisher P, Bird H, Aluwahlia S (1983) A children’s global assessment scale (CGAS). Arch Gen Psychiatry 40:1228–1231PubMed
26.
Shrout P, Skodol A, Dohrenwend B (1986) A two-stage approach for case identification and diagnosis: first-stage instruments. Guildford Press, New York
27.
Szatmari P, Offord D-R, Boyle M-H (1989) Ontario child health study: prevalence of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 30:219–230PubMedCrossRef
28.
Taylor E, Dopfner M, Sergeant J, Asherson P, Banaschewski T, Buitelaar J, Coghill D, Danckaerts M, Rothenberger A, Sonuga-Barke E, Steinhausen HC, Zuddas A (2004) European clinical guidelines for hyperkinetic disorder—first upgrade. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 13:I7–30PubMedCrossRef
29.
van den Brandt P-A, Goldbohm R-A, van ‘t Veer P, Volovics A, Hermus R-J, Sturmans F (1990) A large-scale prospective cohort study on diet and cancer in the Netherlands. J Clin Epidemiol 43:285–295PubMedCrossRef
30.
Van Grimbergen I, Célestin-Westreich S, Ponjaert-Kristofferson I (1999) Validering van ADIKA-IV(deel externaliserend gedrag) bij een klinische populatie kinderen tussen 6 en 18 jaar. In: Garant (ed) De kinderschoenen ontgroeid? Tweede Vlaams Congres Kinder- en jeugdpsychiatrie en -psychotherapie, Leuven, pp 76
31.
Verhulst F, Van der Ende J, Koot H (1996) In: Handleiding voor de CBCL Erasmus University/Departement of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam
32.
Vitiello B, Severe JB, Greenhill LL, Arnold LE, Abikoff HB, Bukstein OG, Elliott GR, Hechtman L, Jensen PS, Hinshaw SP, March JS, Newcorn JH, Swanson JM, Cantwell DP, Davies M, Clevenger W, Wu M, Conners CK, Hoza B, Kraemer HC, Wells K, Wigal T, Elliott G, Newcorn J, Pelham WE (2001) Methylphenidate dosage for children with ADHD over time under controlled conditions: lessons from the MTA. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:188–196PubMedCrossRef
33.
von Ferber L, Lehmkuhl G, Köster I, Döpfner M, Schubert I, Frölich J, Ihle P (2003) Methylphenidate Usage in Germany. Deutsches Ärzteblatt 100:A41–A46
34.
Wels PMA, Robbroeckx LMH (1996) Manual of Nijmeegse questionnaire for educational situation. Swets and Zeitlinger BV, Lisse
35.
Wolraich M-L (1999) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: the most studied and yet most controversial diagnosis. Mental Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 5:163–168CrossRef
36.
Zwaanswijk M, Verhaak PF, van der Ende J, Bensing JM, Verhulst FC (2005) Consultation for and identification of child and adolescent psychological problems in Dutch general practice. Fam Prac 17:17
Metadata
Title
The use of health care services and psychotropic medication in a community sample of 9-year-old schoolchildren with ADHD
Authors
Sabine Tremmery
Jan K. Buitelaar
Jean Steyaert
Geert Molenberghs
Frans J.M. Feron
Ariane C. Kalff
Petra P.M. Hurks
Jos G.M. Hendriksen
Johan S.H. Vles
Jelle Jolles
Publication date
01-08-2007
Publisher
D. Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / Issue 5/2007
Print ISSN: 1018-8827
Electronic ISSN: 1435-165X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-007-0604-5

Other articles of this Issue 5/2007

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 5/2007 Go to the issue

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Shaming experiences and the association between adolescent depression and psychosocial risk factors

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Societal costs and quality of life of children suffering from attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

BRIEF REPORT

Is OPTAx™ useful for monitoring the effect of stimulants on hyperactivity and inattention?

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Autism spectrum disorder and Klinefelter syndrome

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Physiological correlates of anxiety in children with gender identity disorder

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Parent and child acceptability and staff evaluation of K-SADS-PL