The aim of this article is to provide a review of the literature on methylphenidate (MPH) long-term adverse effects on growth in ADHD during developmental age. The search was carried out using Ovid Medline, Embase and PsychInfo till 2011 and focused on the impact of chronic methylphenidate on growth in ADHD children and adolescents aged between 3 and 17 years. Studies peroformed only in adults or related to amphetamines or other psychostimulants medication exposure were excluded. Eleven eligible studies, published between 1996 and 2010, were revised. These studies cover a sample of 2273 subjects with ADHD (79% male). Four of the studies do not support the hypothesis of an association between stimulant use and a growth deficit. The other studies found significant, but small, changes on height, weight and BMI z scores. Height deficit appeared more evident during the first 6-12 months with a subsequent normalization. These studies indicate that long-term treatment with MPH might result in a slight growth deficit, but many unanswered questions remain about the underlying biological mechanism.

EffEtti sulla crescita della terapia a lungo termine con metilfenidato in bambini e adolescenti con disturbo da deficit di attenzione e iperattività (ADHD)

Carucci Sara;Romaniello Roberta;Zuddas Alessandro
2015-01-01

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a review of the literature on methylphenidate (MPH) long-term adverse effects on growth in ADHD during developmental age. The search was carried out using Ovid Medline, Embase and PsychInfo till 2011 and focused on the impact of chronic methylphenidate on growth in ADHD children and adolescents aged between 3 and 17 years. Studies peroformed only in adults or related to amphetamines or other psychostimulants medication exposure were excluded. Eleven eligible studies, published between 1996 and 2010, were revised. These studies cover a sample of 2273 subjects with ADHD (79% male). Four of the studies do not support the hypothesis of an association between stimulant use and a growth deficit. The other studies found significant, but small, changes on height, weight and BMI z scores. Height deficit appeared more evident during the first 6-12 months with a subsequent normalization. These studies indicate that long-term treatment with MPH might result in a slight growth deficit, but many unanswered questions remain about the underlying biological mechanism.
2015
ADHD; Methylphenidate; Adverse Effects; Growth
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11584/343438
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact