Parents and doctors now have more tools than ever before to help kids manage symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But experts say there’s a looming question about the next generation of treatments: Are these new drugs and devices any better than what’s come before?
At least four new treatments — two drugs, a nerve stimulation device, and a prescription video game — have come to market in recent years to manage or treat symptoms of ADHD. The condition, which is marked by an inability to focus, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, has historically been treated with stimulants. But with new drug formulations and entirely novel approaches, experts say it’s proven difficult to grasp how different options stack up to one another, because there are rarely any studies that compare ADHD treatments head to head.
“As we think about all these new products hitting the market, we should be aware that there is a fairly established armamentarium of options that work very well,” said Florence Bourgeois, a pediatrician and ER physician at Boston Children’s Hospital. She and other experts also say that many studies on both new and long-used treatments tend to only include a small number of patients, run for a short stretch of time, and often don’t examine outcomes in real-world settings.
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