RESEARCH ARTICLE


The Weighed Core Symptom Scale and Prediction of ADHD in Adults – Objective Measures of Remission and Response to Treatment with Methylphenidate



Hanna Edebol1, *, Lars Helldin2, Torsten Norlander3, 4
1 Nutrition Gut Brain Interactions Research Centre, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
2 Department of Psychiatry, the NU-Health Care, Trollhättan, Sweden
3 Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
4 Evidens Research and Development Center, Göteborg, Sweden

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2013
Volume: 9
First Page: 171
Last Page: 179
Publisher ID: CPEMH-9-171
DOI: 10.2174/1745017901309010171

Article History:

Received Date: 18/6/2013
Revision Received Date: 28/7/2013
Acceptance Date: 2/9/2013
Electronic publication date: 18 /10/2013
Collection year: 2013

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Creative Commons License
© Edebol et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Nutrition Gut Brain Interactions Research Centre, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden; Tel: +46 (0) 732 707 624; Email: hanna.edebol@oru.se


Abstract

Objective:

Two measures of the response rate and the optimal treatment response for adult ADHD were evaluated using methylphenidate. The hypotheses were that Prediction of ADHD (PADHD) defines remission, the Weighed Core Symptom (WCS) scale registers direct effects of medication and that WCS may indicate the optimal dose level during titration.

Design:

PADHD and WCS were analyzed at baseline and after intake of low doses of either short-acting or modified-release formulations of methylphenidate, MPH (Study I), during titration with modified-release formulations of MPH (18/27, 36, 54, 72 mg) and at three months follow-up (Study II).

Patients:

Study I consisted of 63 participants (32 females) and Study II consisted of 10 participants (6 females) diagnosed with ADHD and who was to start with treatment.

Outcome measures:

Prediction of ADHD (PADHD) indicates the occurrence of ADHD (No, Yes) and the Weighed Core Symptom scale (WCS) quantifies ADHD from 0 to 100 (max-min).

Results:

The number of clinical cases of ADHD decreased after methylphenidate treatment according to PADHD. WCS increased (p < 0.001) from 9.75 (SD = 12.27) to 47.50 (SD = 29.75) with about 10 mg of methylphenidate (N = 63). During titration, symptoms improved after 18/27 mg and 36 mg of methylphenidate and baseline-follow up comparisons showed WCS increments (p = 0.005) from 31.00 (N = 10, SD = 26.85) to 69.00 (N = 10, SD = 22.34).

Conclusions:

PADHD defined remission and WCS measured therapeutic effects of methylphenidate in adult ADHD.

Keywords: : Objective measures, Weighed Core Symptom scale, Prediction of ADHD, remission, ADHD.