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. 2018 May 10;2018(5):CD012069. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012069.pub2

Yatsuga 2014.

Methods A cohort study of methylphenidate use for 3 months
Participants Number of participants screened: not stated
Number of participants included:, 50
Number of participants followed up: 50
Number of withdrawals: 0
Diagnosis of ADHD: DSM‐IV TR (subtype not stated)
Age: mean 9.7 years (SD 2 years 8 months) (range: 6‐16)
IQ: mean 93.15
Sex: 50 males
Methylphenidate‐naïve: 100%
Ethnicity: not stated
Country: Japan
Comorbidity: none
Comedication: none
Sociodemographics: not stated
Inclusion criteria

  1. Diagnosis of ADHD confirmed diagnosis by semi‐structured interviews using ADHD behaviour module of Japanese version of the KSADS‐PL‐J

  2. Male, aged 6‐16 years


Exclusion criteria

  1. Lifetime diagnosis of any psychiatric disorder, head trauma with loss of consciousness

  2. Lifetime substance abuse

  3. Any history of epilepsy

  4. Significant fetal exposure to alcohol or drugs

  5. Perinatal complications

  6. Female

  7. Use of psychopharmacological components prior to study
Interventions Methylphenidate type: osmotic release oral system (OROS)
Methylphenidate dosage: 18/27 mg (0.5‐1.2 mg/kg/day)
Administration schedule: not stated
Duration of intervention: 3 months
Treatment compliance: not stated
Outcomes Non‐serious adverse events:
In all, 7 children reported some kind of adverse effect: 2 children reported headache, 3 children had appetite loss, 3 children had sleeplessness and 1 child reported appetite loss and sleeplessness
Notes Sample calculation: not stated
 Ethics approval: ethics committee of Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University
 Funding/vested interests/authors' affiliations: Grant‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research (B) and Challenging Exploratory Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan (KAKENHI:grant number 24300149 and 23650223 to A.T). Partially supported by Grant in Aid for Scientific Research from Japan‐U.S. Brain Research Cooperation Program (grant number 210201 to A.T) as well as the Research Grants from the University of Fukui to AT. The funding organisations had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or in preparation, review or approval of the manuscript. No authors have financial or personal relations that could pose a conflict of interest
 Any withdrawals due to adverse events: none
Key conclusions of the study authors: this study showed no relation between the COMT genotype and methylphenidate adverse effects
Exclusion of methylphenidate non‐responders/children who have previously experienced adverse events on methylphenidate: none indicated