Table 4.
Summary of treatment effect sizes in children and adolescents
Effect sizes have been rounded to 2 decimal places. Positive effect sizes indicate a beneficial effect of treatment compared with placebo. Italics indicate long-term randomized withdrawal studies
ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD-RS-IV ADHD Rating Scale IV (investigator-rated unless otherwise stated), APRS Academic Performance Rating Scale, ATX atomoxetine, BSFQ Before-School Functioning Questionnaire, CHIP-CE:SRF/AE Child Health and Illness Profile-Child Edition: Self-Report Form/Adolescent Edition, CHIP-CE:PRF, Child Health and Illness Profile-Child Edition: Parent Report Form, CHQ-PF50 Child Health Questionnaire-50-item Parent Form, GXR guanfacine extended release, HRQoL health-related quality of life, JTJA Jag Tycker Jag Är [I think I am], KINDL-R Revidierter Fragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche zur Erfassung der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität [Revised questionnaire to assess health-related quality of life in children and adolescents], LDX lisdexamfetamine, MPH methylphenidate, NR not reported, NS not significant, OROS-MPH osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate, SCS-P/T Social Competence Scale-Parent/Teacher, SD standard deviation, SNAP-IV Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Rating Scale-Revised, SSRS-P Social Skills Rating System-Parent, TD-MPH transdermal methylphenidate, WFIRS-P Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Parent
* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001 (active treatment vs placebo)
aEffect sizes could not be calculated for Findling et al. 2011 [45], the only study to use the Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Research Version
bEffect sizes of active medication versus placebo were calculated using published data (mean change, n, and SD or standard error of the mean; or n and F-statistic [as appropriate])
cCHQ-PF50 concepts, CHIP-CE:PRF subdomains and BSFQ individual items were not included
dEffect sizes could not be calculated for Greenhill et al. 2006 [50]
eATX doses of 0.5, 1.2 or 1.8 mg/kg/day; results shown as a range across the three doses
fPublication does not specify which version of the CHQ was used; parent version is assumed
gSymptom measure was ADHD-RS-IV for all CHIP-CE:PRF studies except Dell’Agnello et al. 2009 [37], which used SNAP-IV ADHD
hEffect sizes were calculated from published data for the symptomatic measure (ADHD-RS-IV or SNAP-IV ADHD) but from the corresponding ClinicalTrials.gov entry for the functional/HRQoL measure (CHIP-CE:PRF or BSFQ); CHIP-CE:PRF domain effect sizes could not be calculated for Dell’Agnello et al. 2009 [37]
iEffect sizes were published for the WFIRS-P Learning and School domain and Family domain and were calculated from published data for the remaining domains