Effectiveness and adverse effects of methylphenidate treatment in children diagnosed with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a preliminary report

ABSTRACT

Objective: Comorbidity with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorders (DMDD) is very common in children and adolescents In this study, we aimed to present a retrospective study of methylphenidate (MPH) treatment in 12 cases who were diagnosed with DMDD and ADHD.

Method: All patients were followed-up in our outpatient clinic and the effectiveness and side effects of MPH were explored. Mood Symptom Questionnaire (MSQ-7) and Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) were used for assessing the mood symptoms and their severity.

Results: The differences between initiation time and the end-point time in CGI-S and MSQ-7 scores were statistically significant.

Conclusion: In this present study, the usage of MPH was found to lead to an increase in irritability in children with ADHD and DMDD evidently.

KEYWORDS:

• Adverse effect
• attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
• disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
• methylphenidate

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.