Weber 2003.

Methods	A retrospective cohort study investigating the side effects of methylphenidate in children
Participants	Number of participants screened: 73 Number of participants included: 57 Number of participants followed up: 45 Number of withdrawals: 12 Diagnosis of ADHD: DSM‐IV (subtype: not stated) Age: mean 11.1, range 7.2‐18.0 years old IQ: range 85‐115 Sex: 42 males, 3 females Methylphenidate‐naïve: 100% Ethnicity: not stated Country: Germany Comorbidity: anxiety, depression, disturbance in attention, antisocial behaviour and aggressive behaviour Comedication: not stated Sociodemographics: not stated Inclusion criteria A detailed neuromotor and neuropsychological assessment Had to be on methylphenidate treatment for the whole study period Evaluable data returned from parents
Interventions	Methylphenidate type: not stated Mean methylphenidate dosage: 16.8 mg Administration schedule: not stated Duration of intervention: mean 2.7 years, range 0.2‐12.3 years Treatment compliance: questions regarding compliance were included in the mailed questionnaire; however, no results are reported
Outcomes	Non‐serious adverse events German version of Barkley Side Effects Rating Scale (17 items), parent rated every sixth week
Notes	Sample calculation: not stated Ethics approval: not necessary at the time the study were carried out Funding/vested interests: no funding Authors' affiliations: no affiliations to pharmaceutical companies stated Key conclusions of the study authors: the application of methylphenidate in therapy of attention deficit disorder and the interpretation of side effects of methylphenidate is a multimodal task. Adverse effects are not correlated with daily doses, age, the severity of body complaints and the presence of neuroticism and extraversion. The children with more side effects showed more emotional comorbidity Exclusion of methylphenidate non‐responders/children who have previously experienced adverse events on methylphenidate: no Supplemental information regarding diagnostic criteria, ethics approval, funding, ratings and drug naïvety received through personal email correspondence with the authors in December 2013 (Weber 2013 [pers comm])