• The Sooner the Better for ADHD Treatment

Having good input in the very beginning of patient assesment can lead to improved treatment for children being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. Parent and teacher compliance jumped from 25 to 90 percent at the Mayo Clinic Child and Adolescent ADHD Clinic, when incentives and stressing the importance of being prepared for the first consultation were presented. "I'd compare treating a child with ADHD for the first time to consulting with someone who has type II diabetes — we need to measure a diabetic patient's blood sugar level before we can properly treat them," says study lead author Jyoti Bhagia, M.D., a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist. "The same goes for ADHD. The more we know about children in the early stages of treatment, the more quickly we can get them the help they need."

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Sound bites from Dr. Bhagia are available in the downloads above

Title for broadcast cg:  Dr. Jyoti Bhagia, Mayo Clinic Psychiatrist

Mayo Clinic researchers are presenting new findings on the early treatment of child and adolescent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder this week at the American Academy of Childhood and Adolescent Psychiatry annual meeting in San Francisco. They include a method to get better input from parents and teachers of children who are being diagnosed with ADHD for the first time — allowing for more effective treatment upon the first consultation. Researchers also showed how a tool can help clinicians better diagnose and treat children who have both ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder.