ADHD during childhood and adolescence

This module aims to broaden understanding of ADHD during childhood and adolescence. It starts by briefly describing the core symptoms of ADHD and the diagnostic approach before moving onto the holistic management of the condition with a detailed look at drug interventions.

After completing this module you will be able to counsel parents and patients on the management of common medication side-effects. The module also incorporates useful advice for community pharmacy teams on licensing considerations, medication adherence and monitoring, dealing with medicines supply problems, and where to access further information and guidance.

Key facts

• ADHD affects between 3-9 per cent of the population
• It is accompanied by other co-morbidities in two-thirds of cases. Common co-morbidities include insomnia, autism and behavioural disorders
• Most medication side-effects occur during initiation and with dose increases, and tend to subside after a week or two 
• Patients on a stable medication dose need their weight, height, blood pressure and pulse monitoring and plotting on centile charts.

Contributing author: Tejas Khatau, lead pharmacist, families, young people and children's services division at Leicester Partnership NHS Trust