What this study adds The results suggest that among children and adolescents with a diagnosis of ADHD , methylpheni date may improve teacher reported symptoms of ADHD and general behaviour and parent reported quality of life .
Methylpheni date is associated with an increased risk of non-serious but not serious adverse events .
Study question Is methylpheni date beneficial or harmful for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) in children and adolescents ?
Cytogenetic assessment of methylphenidate treatment in pediatric patients treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Methylpheni date ( MPH , Ritalin ) , has been prescribed to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) since its approval by the FDA over 50 years ago . Diagnoses of pediatric patients with ADHD and the administration of MPH to treat the symptoms have increased in prevalence in recent years . A 2005 study by El-Zein et al. reported statistically significant increases in cytogenetic anomalies including chromosomal aberrations ( CA ) , micronuclei ( MN ) and sister chromatid exchanges ( SCEs ) in peripheral blood lymphocytes cultured from pediatric patients treated for 3 months with MPH .  These findings led to wide-spread concern regarding the potential for genotoxic risks associated with prolonged administration of MPH . The study described in the present paper was design ed to repeat the El-Zein effort with a much larger sample size . The subjects ( N = 109 ) were r and omized into two groups : one treated with MPH as well as behavior therapy , the other was a control group that received behavior therapy only . We evaluated CAs , MN , and SCEs in peripheral blood lymphocytes in sample s obtained prior to therapy and after 3 months of treatment with MPH . The data were analyzed using a Poisson regression model with a generalized estimating equation method adjusted for several covariates including time , treatment-by-time interaction , sex , and age group . The log(e ) rate ratios of the MPH plus behavior therapy and behavior therapy groups were compared . The frequencies of CAs , MN , and SCEs were not increased in the MPH plus behavior therapy group when compared to the behavior therapy group only ( p = 0.53 , 0.28 , 0.81 , respectively ) . These results provide evidence in a large cohort that MPH does not induce cytogenetic anomalies in children , in contrast to the findings of the El-Zein study
What this study adds The results suggest that among children and adolescents with a diagnosis of ADHD , methylpheni date may improve teacher reported symptoms of ADHD and general behaviour and parent reported quality of life .
Methylpheni date is associated with an increased risk of non-serious but not serious adverse events .
Study question Is methylpheni date beneficial or harmful for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) in children and adolescents ?