ADHD guidelines could increase treatment in preschoolers, teens

New guidelines for diagnosing and treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could lead pediatricians to diagnose the condition in kids as young as four and to continue treating teens through high school on stimulant drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. The recommendations, released Monday at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Boston, state that primary care physicians should do a diagnostic workup and initiate treatment for ADHD for any child aged 4 through 18 who has academic or behavioral problems and has trouble with inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. The previous guidelines issued a decade ago only applied to children aged 6 through 12 since at that time, there a was a lack of research in preschoolers and teens, according to Dr. Mark Wolraich, chair of the guideline committee.