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Are ADHD medications under or over prescribed worldwide?: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Carlos Renato Moreira-Maia1, Rafael Massuti, Luca Tessari
1ADHD Outpatient Program (PRODAH), Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil Department of Psychology, Centre for Innovation in Mental Health, University of Southampton; Clinical and Experimental Sciences (CNS and Psychiatry), University of Southampton College of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil. Solent NHS Trust, Southampton, UK New York University Child Study Center, New York, NY Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Introduction:
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by age inappropriate and impairing levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity. Pharmacotherapy is an important part of the ADHD multimodal treatment. The extent to which ADHD is pharmacologically over or under treated worldwide is controversial. We aimed to estimate the pooled worldwide rate of ADHD pharmacological treatment in individuals with and without the disorder.
Method And Analysis:
We will include published or unpublished studies reporting the rates of ADHD pharmacological treatment in participants with and without ADHD of any age group. Population-based, cohort, or follow-up studies, as well as data from insurance health system and third-party reimbursements will be eligible. Searches will be performed in a large number of electronic databases, including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus. The primary outcome will be the prevalence of ADHD pharmacological treatment in individuals with ADHD and without ADHD. Two independent reviewers will perform the screening, and data extraction process. Study quality/bias will be assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa scale by 2 independent reviewers. To test the robustness of the findings, we will perform a series of sensitivity and meta-regression analysis. Analyses will be performed with R and STATA software.
Ethics And Dissemination:
No IRB approval will be necessary. The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Registration And Status:
PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018085233.
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