New AAP Guidelines for ADHD: A Challenge for Primary Care

This first guideline revision in a decade challenges primary care clinicians to improve the systems of care for children with ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder in childhood and can detrimentally affect academic performance, social interactions, and general well-being if it is not recognized and appropriately treated. Guidelines place the major responsibility for diagnosis and management of this chronic condition squarely on the shoulders of primary care pediatricians because access to mental health clinicians is often limited. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has updated its 2000–2001 recommendations for diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents. The new guidelines stress the following points:

The guideline expands the age range –– previously from age 6 through 12 years…

Reviewing Author

Louis M. Bell, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Center for Pediatric Practice Based Research Learning; Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Editorial BoardsCurrent Problems in Pediatric Adolescent Healthcare

Leadership Positions in Professional Societies College of Physicians of Philadelphia (Board of Trustees)

Louis M. Bell, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsCurrent Problems in Pediatric Adolescent Healthcare

Leadership Positions in Professional Societies College of Physicians of Philadelphia (Board of Trustees)