A pilot study on effect of methylphenidate on balance function of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder / 北京大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the effect of methylphenidate on the balance function of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,and the correlation between the variations of balance function and subjective clinical assessment before and after treatment.Methods:From July to December 2006,23 children(19 boys and 4 girls) who met DSM-Ⅳ criteria for ADHD participated in an open study conducted at Institute of Mental Health,Peking University.The variation of their balance functions before and after methylphenidate extended-release tablets(OROS methylphenidate) treatment were evaluated,and the differences of balance functions between 19 ADHD boys pre-and post-treatment and 38 age-matched typically developing control boys were compared.Balance functions were assessed with sensory organization test(SOT) provided by SMART EquiTest system.Subjective clinical assessments were measured with ADHD rating scale-Ⅳ and IOWA Conners rating scale.Results:The equilibrium score(ES) in SOT5,SOT6,and composite score (61.84?14.19,65.88?15.41,and 75.70?10.30,respectively),and the strategy score(SS) in SOT4 and SOT5(89.20?3.17 and 83.22?6.56),and the sensory analysis of vestibular ratio(67.64?14.43) improved significantly after OROS methylphenidate treatment compared to those before treatment(49.81?16.26,57.61?16.72,68.70?11.96,86.84?4.49,78.55?6.55,and 54.46?17.27,respectively,P0.05). Conclusion:This study suggests that methylphenidate can improve the balance function of children with ADHD through direct effect on the balance system.