ADHD, stimulant treatment, and growth: a longitudinal study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric medicine
• Neuroscience
• Growth and development

Background:

• Ongoing concerns exist regarding stimulant medication's potential adverse effects on growth in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Population-based birth cohort studies are crucial for understanding long-term developmental outcomes.
• Assessing growth trajectories and treatment associations requires robust longitudinal data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between stimulant treatment and growth in individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• To determine if ADHD itself or its stimulant treatment affects peak height velocity (PHV) and final adult height.
• To analyze height changes in relation to the duration and timing of stimulant medication use.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a population-based birth cohort (N=5718) including ADHD cases (N=340) and controls (N=680).
• Modeled height over time using penalized spline smoothing and calculated height velocity.
• Estimated peak height velocity (PHV) age and magnitude from velocity curves; analyzed height Z-scores before, during, and after stimulant treatment.

Main Results:

• Neither ADHD diagnosis nor stimulant treatment was linked to significant differences in PHV magnitude or final adult height.
• A positive correlation was observed between stimulant duration before PHV and age at PHV in boys (r=0.21, P=.01).
• No significant correlation was found between treatment duration and changes in height Z-scores; a clinically insignificant decrease was noted in long-term treated cases.

Conclusions:

• ADHD treatment with stimulant medication does not appear to be associated with significant alterations in adult height.
• Findings suggest that stimulant medications, when used for ADHD, do not adversely affect overall growth trajectories.
• Further research can explore nuanced effects on growth velocity and timing in specific subgroups.