Teachers Usually First to Report ADHD
Teachers Usually First to Report ADHD
Many Advocate ADHD Medications Merely to Keep Classroom Peace, Experts Say
Sept. 30, 2003 -- Teachers and other school personnel may largely be responsible for the surge in the use of medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, a new study shows.
Among children who received ADHD medications, more than half were initially recommended for drug treatment by their teachers or other school officials, researchers found. By comparison, parents first suspected the condition and asked for ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderall in 30% of cases, and doctors made the initial call only 11% of the time.
These findings, based on surveys of nearly 500 family physicians, pediatricians, and child psychiatrists treating children with ADHD medications, are published in the current issue of Annals of Family Medicine. Although doctors ultimately prescribe the ADHD medications -- now taken by at least 2 million American kids -- one of the study's researchers tells WebMD that it's not always by their choice.
"What we are being told is that many doctors feel they are strongly being pushed to prescribe medications, sometimes in children who don't really have attention deficit disorder," says Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, a family practitioner in Maryland who heads the Montgomery Center for Research in Child and Adolescent Development. "We don't want to be prescribing these medications willy-nilly to children who really don't need them, he says"
So why do they?
Sax says that school personnel may innocently confuse restlessness, fidgeting, or inattentiveness with ADD or ADHD, but often purposely pressure parents and doctors to prescribe ADHD medications to certain children in order to ensure order and focus in the classroom. "There is no question that if you put children on these medications, they will do better in tests."
Since 1991, ADHD has been classified as a "handicap" worthy of special education funding and initiatives, resulting in some educators to actively look for symptoms in their students. Perhaps not by coincidence, in that time the use of stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall has increased 20-fold among school-aged children, he says. Use of these ADHD medications among preschoolers has also tripled in the last decade.
Teachers Usually First to Report ADHD
Many Advocate ADHD Medications Merely to Keep Classroom Peace, Experts Say
Sept. 30, 2003 -- Teachers and other school personnel may largely be responsible for the surge in the use of medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, a new study shows.
Among children who received ADHD medications, more than half were initially recommended for drug treatment by their teachers or other school officials, researchers found. By comparison, parents first suspected the condition and asked for ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderall in 30% of cases, and doctors made the initial call only 11% of the time.
These findings, based on surveys of nearly 500 family physicians, pediatricians, and child psychiatrists treating children with ADHD medications, are published in the current issue of Annals of Family Medicine. Although doctors ultimately prescribe the ADHD medications -- now taken by at least 2 million American kids -- one of the study's researchers tells WebMD that it's not always by their choice.
"What we are being told is that many doctors feel they are strongly being pushed to prescribe medications, sometimes in children who don't really have attention deficit disorder," says Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, a family practitioner in Maryland who heads the Montgomery Center for Research in Child and Adolescent Development. "We don't want to be prescribing these medications willy-nilly to children who really don't need them, he says"
So why do they?
Sax says that school personnel may innocently confuse restlessness, fidgeting, or inattentiveness with ADD or ADHD, but often purposely pressure parents and doctors to prescribe ADHD medications to certain children in order to ensure order and focus in the classroom. "There is no question that if you put children on these medications, they will do better in tests."
Since 1991, ADHD has been classified as a "handicap" worthy of special education funding and initiatives, resulting in some educators to actively look for symptoms in their students. Perhaps not by coincidence, in that time the use of stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall has increased 20-fold among school-aged children, he says. Use of these ADHD medications among preschoolers has also tripled in the last decade.
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