14 DAY TRIAL // Children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often prescribed drugs such as Ritalin or Adderal. A new study suggests that the age at which patients begin taking these medications is essential towards determining how well they will perform on tests later on in life.
Working together with colleagues at the University of Iceland, investigators from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine determined that administering ADHD medication to children starting from the fourth grade yielded better test results than when medication was started in the sixth or seventh grade.
The study, which was published in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Pediatrics, covered a total of 11,872 children, born in Iceland between 1994 and 1996. Overall, ADHD medication appeared to be more effective for girls than for boys, PsychCentral reports.
“Children who began taking medications immediately after their fourth-grade standardized tests showed the smallest declines in academic performance,” explains Helga Zoega, PhD, the lead author of the study.