The course of behaviour changes in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity after drug treatment

INTRODUCTION: Several studies have reported differences in behaviour in patients with various subtypes of attention deficit with hyperactivity and the benefits of psychostimulant medication in the treatment of behaviour problems of patients with the attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome (TDAH). OBJECTIVES: 1. To determine possible differences in behaviour between patients with subtypes of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; 2. To analyze the efficacy of methylphenidate on behaviour in three subtypes of TDAH, evaluated on the opinions of patients and teachers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 90 children were studied: 39 children with TDAH-C; 36 with TDAH-1 and 15 with TDAH-H/I. All patients were given 0.5 mg/kg of methylphenidate for a period of three months, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. RESULTS: The results show that the children with the three subtypes of TDAH have significant differences in all the behaviour variables studied except for the variable timidity anxiety, in which no differences were observed between the subtypes of TDAH. Statistical analysis also showed that children with all three subtypes of TDAH improved significantly with regard to most of the aspects of behaviour studied after psychostimulant medication, in the opinions of parents and teachers. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are similar to those of other studies and give fresh data on the behaviour and advantages of methylphenidate in the new subtype included in the DSM-1V, the predominantly hyperactive impulsive type.