Unmet Needs in the Treatment of Pediatric and Adult ADHD

This poster was presented at the 30th annual  Psych Congress, held Sept. 16-19, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects both children and adults. Current treatment options are often associated with adverse effects and/or abuse potential.

Objective: To characterize unmet needs in ADHD treatment for both pediatric and adult patients.

Method: An electronic survey was sent to health care providers likely to treat patients with ADHD. Questions sought to characterize ADHD treatment patterns, satisfaction with currently available treatment options, clinical challenges, and unmet educational needs.

Key Findings: 98.8% (170/172) of respondents treat patients with ADHD. 77.8% (109/140) treat both pediatric and adult populations. Respondents largely agreed that patient age plays a role in medication selection. For pediatric and adult patients, less than 40% (49/140 and 42/140, respectively) of respondents are satisfied with currently available treatment options, noting greater satisfaction with efficacy of stimulants vs nonstimulants. The most common challenges with current ADHD treatment options include breakthrough symptoms (104/135), price and access (92/135), and crash after medication wears off (77/135). When considering potential new treatment options, respondents would value all-day coverage (114/135), low potential for abuse/diversion (100/135), once-daily dosing (97/135), and reliable efficacy (97/135). 94.0% (126/134) of respondents believe education about current and emerging treatment options in ADHD would be beneficial to health care providers.

Conclusion: In this sample, less than 40% of respondents are satisfied with currently available ADHD treatment options. Respondents indicated a variety of common challenges with current treatments as well as desired characteristics for potential new options, suggesting a need for novel treatments for ADHD.