Regardless of whether the patient undergoes medical or behavioral therapy, the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD is a burden not only on the patient's family, but also on the country as a whole. Anything unusual about the child is then explained away as a possible symptom of ADHD. A list of clear behaviors indicative of ADHD is provided in Tables 1 and 2 (Symptoms and Diagnosis).
Behavior therapy works not only by improving the skills of the child with ADHD, but also the parents. However, the growth rates of the children in the study normalized after three years (The MTA Cooperative Group, 1999). The pharmacist should monitor the patient's weight, height, and body mass index every six months to ensure there is not a large gap in growth and development.
Before starting any stimulant-based medication, the pharmacist must confirm that the child has no history of heart problems or genetic risk factors. The patient's pulse and heart rate should also be recorded before starting treatment. A follow-up email also included a link to the survey and a reminder of the purpose of the survey.
The body of the initial and follow-up e-mails can be found in Appendices B and C. In the final part of the survey, the participant was asked to indicate their confidence in counseling about ADHD medication and to express their opinions or perceptions of ADHD- medicines and prescriptions. The pharmacist sample was described by calculating frequencies, means, and percentages for the demographic characteristics of the pharmacist respondents.
Children with ADHD have higher-than-normal rates of delinquency and substance abuse
Stimulant medication has been demonstrated to slow growth in children
Patients have to exhibit symptoms of ADHD for a minimum of 3 months to be diagnosed with ADHD and receive treatment
ADHD Medications follow a proper dosing protocol as determined by the physician and the dose cannot change even if there are side effects
No significant differences in respondents' self-confidence with ADHD were found when location of practice (independent pharmacy vs. chain pharmacy) or level of training (BS vs. PharmD) was compared. I feel that I could benefit from taking a continuing education or training program in the field of ADHD. The second perception item, "I feel that some doctors or physicians are more likely than others to write a prescription for ADHD medication for children" was different between participants with a BS and a PharmD degree (Χ2 = 14.20 ; p ≤ 0.014).
More PharmD participants “neither agree nor disagree” and “strongly agree” than those participants with a BS degree (Figure 5).
I feel some doctors or physicians are more inclined than others to write a prescription for ADHD medications for children
The overall objective of this study was to determine Mississippians' familiarity, knowledge, confidence, and perceptions of ADHD and its treatments. Regarding knowledge of ADHD-related symptoms, treatments and diagnosis, a large majority of responding pharmacists were able to correctly recognize all the true/false statements with the exception of the statement: "Patients must exhibit symptoms of ADHD for at least 3 months before to be diagnosed with ADHD and receive treatment.” Significantly more PharmD respondents responded to the statements, “Children with ADHD have higher than normal rates of delinquency and substance abuse” and.
Interestingly, among these same PharmD respondents, a higher percentage answered incorrectly to the statement: “Patients must exhibit symptoms of ADHD for at least three months before being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving treatment. A majority of pharmacy respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the perception items: “I feel that there is an increase in the use of ADHD medications by children under 12 years of age,” “I feel that some physicians whether doctors are more likely than others to write a prescription for ADHD medications for children", "I feel that many children are wrongly diagnosed with ADHD", "I feel that doctors and physicians failure to emphasize behavioral therapy in addition to drug therapy.” At the end of the survey, some respondents provided comments suggesting that overprescribing ADHD, especially stimulants, could be a problem.
In my opinion, there are children who are both misdiagnosed with ADHD and underdiagnosed with ADHD. Fear of overprescribing has dictated how many of the doctors treat those with ADHD." We need data on abuse of ADHD medications by the adult population (college students, health care providers, etc.)".
By not properly diagnosing ADHD, our children risk becoming addicted to these potent drugs and suffering the consequences of the side effects. In the area where I practice pharmacy, I see a higher than average number of ADHD medications specifically dispensed to children. The results of this study show that Mississippi pharmacists are generally knowledgeable and comfortable in their role as dispensers of ADHD medications for children and also in counseling patients and families about these medications.
Pharmacists were less knowledgeable and familiar with diagnosis of ADHD and non-pharmacological treatments, which is expected given their area of practice. As the most accessible healthcare professional, pharmacists are likely to be called upon by families of patients with ADHD for guidance. Future studies should analyze physician prescribing patterns for children with ADHD and explore the collaborative relationship between physicians and pharmacists caring for children with ADHD.
34;Pharmacists' knowledge of Ritalin and ADHD and their attitudes toward using Ritalin to treat ADHD." US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, February. My name is Anna Crider, I am a PY1 pharmacy student at the University of Mississippi I am interested in understanding your perceptions and knowledge about the condition of ADHD in children.
