A very big number of medical practitioners who mostly treat children rarely do so under the required and recommended ADHD treatment guidelines.

Pediatric Specialists and the ADHD treatment guidelines

A study has now shown that rarely do doctors treating ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder) in children follow the stipulated guidelines recommended. It showed that 90% of the total doctors currently in practice don’t adhere to AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) rules.
These are findings according to Cohen Children’s Medical Center, which is situated in the city of New York. The institutions sampled reviews and opinions acquired from answered questionnaires sent out to over 3000 doctors in practice. The sample specifically involved pediatric doctors who were currently treating, managing or diagnosing kids with ADHD. The practitioners being studied gave back a report indicating methods used. This revealed whether or not the practitioner was actually following the required guidelines when treating and curing ADHD in their patients.
The AAP issued out re-examined rules and regulations to be used when treating ADHD in children. This was done in the year 2011. The lead author of the study, Dr. Andrew Adesman, said that the guidelines released by the AAP were very vital, especially when handling kids aged between 6yrs to 4yrs. He further added that this was the first time ever for doctors to be issued with proper guidelines. The rules and guidelines would help medical practitioners and specialists alike to handle patients with ADHD.

Research showing use of the ADHD guidelines

Mr. Adesman says that the high increase in the number of children with this disorder prompted experts to come up with the guidelines in the first place. He also said that a lot of the pediatricians were kind of uneasy when treating ADHD in small kids. They have therefore turned to other medical professionals such as child psychiatrists and child neurologists to make the major decisions. This showed that a lot of the pediatricians looked for help in other professionals who could carry out the diagnosis and treatment with ease.
The first guideline as written in the AAP states that, behavioral therapy should be among the initial forms of treatment given to patients suffering from this disorder. Medication should then be used but only if the behavioral therapy yielded no positive results.
The study also indicated that some practitioners dealing with this disorder utilize pharmacotherapy when first dealing with the patient. The noted thing was that these very practitioners were not sticking to the guidelines set down by the AAP. According to the AAP guidelines, it’s a mandatory requirement for a doctor using medication as one of the treatment procedures to prescribe methylphenidate. The doctors were totally contradictory to this guideline as they often prescribed other different medications.
Mr. Adesman sited various reasons for this discrepancy. He mentioned that one of them was the unavailability of proper demeanor counseling and management practice. He added that this type of treatment was exceptionally expensive in cases where it was made available thus making it out of reach to many families. Insurers, on the other hand, were not making things any easier since they were known not to cover services rendered by local community professionals.
He finally said that he failed to discover any reason as to why a lot of the practitioners failed to adhere to the guidelines despite being advised. He was certain about this stating that his researchers didn’t really find out why there was such a behavior.