Guidelines for diagnosis, evaluation and treatment for Attention deficit disorder in children have not gone well with the pediatricians and psychiatrics alike. Here is what they have to say.

Team@CMHF

The guidelines, “ADHD: Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,” were released earlier this week by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They call for children as young as 4 years old to be diagnosed and treated with medications for ADHD.

This radical suggestion will further the already problematic over diagnosis of ADD and expand the inappropriate prescription of medication to young children,” he comments. “It is absolutely clear that medication can be very helpful for ADD in carefully diagnosed school-age kids who have moderate/severe problems and who have not responded to patient watchful waiting, parent training, and behavioral interventions.

But in busy practice settings, ADD is often inaccurately diagnosed and prematurely treated with medication. This should be a treatment of very last resort in preschoolers, reserved for those with the most severe problems and delivered by those with the greatest expertise.”
While these guidelines are undoubtedly well-intended, the fear is how they’ll be implemented in busy, real-world practices.
A poll on Pediatrics Consultant Live is gathering pediatricians’ opinions about the change

Ref: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pediatricians-and-psychiatrists-debate-wider-diagnosing-prescribing-guidelines-for-adhd-132322808.html