Integrating Guidelines for ADHD - The Perspective from the Eunethydis and German Guidelines

Clinical guidelines have become an important instrument for evidence-based medical practice, better quality of care, resource allocation and cost-efficient service provision. On behalf of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP) a group of child psychiatrists and psychologists from several European countries (European ADHD Guidelines Group) developed first clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD for practice in Europe in 1998. These European guidelines, updated in 2004 and supplemented in 2006, recommend multimodal treatment for ADHD, incorporating psychological, behavioral and educational interventions. Pharmacological treatment was generally reserved for those with more severe symptoms, or those with less severe ADHD for whom non-drug interventions are either unavailable, have been refused or are inadequate. MPH was considered as first-line option. Meanwhile various meta-analyses reviewed the effectiveness and safety of medication treatment and non-pharmacological treatments for children, adolescents and adults with ADHD. Based on a systematic evaluation of the current evidence and a structured consensus involving various groups of healthcare professionals, the German medical societies of child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatrics, and adult psychiatry, have recently developed interdisciplinary guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in children, adolescents and adults with ADHD. The presentation will focus on a comparison of the key recommendations of the clinical guidelines developed by the EAGG and the German medical societies.

TB Disclosure of potential conflicts of interests: Dr. Banaschewski served in an advisory or consultancy role for Actelion, Hexal Pharma, Lilly, Lundbeck, Medice, Novartis, Shire. He received conference support or speaker’s fee by Lilly, Medice, Novartis and Shire. He has been involved in clinical trials conducted by Shire & Viforpharma. He received royalities from Hogrefe, Kohlhammer, CIP Medien, Oxford University Press.