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Later start to ADHD medications may negatively impact test scores
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Children who started attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medication later were more likely to have declining test scores, according to a study published online.
Helga Zoega, PhD, and colleagues from the University of Iceland looked at data on 11,872 children from the Icelandic Medicines Registry and compared that data with information from the Database of National Scholastic Examinations.
Although the researchers noted that children on ADHD medicines performed less well on standardized fourth- and seventh-grade tests compared with children who were not taking these medications overall, declines in test performance were pronounced in children beginning their medications later on.
“The crude probability of academic decline was 72.9% in mathematics and 42.9% in language arts for children with a treatment start 25 to 36 months later after the fourth-grade test,” the researchers noted.
Zoega and colleagues noted that there were some limitations to their data, notably that it was limited to only fourth and seventh grade test takers, and thus may not be generalizable to children in other grades.
However, they noted, their findings back previous findings and that their results may indicate a need for further study into why mathematics scores were so affected.
“Possibly, stimulant drug treatment has more positive effects on the cognitive function underlying mathematical ability than on that underlying language ability,” the researchers said in their findings.
Disclosure: Dr. Zoega reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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