No increase in severe cardiovascular events for children, adolescents taking ADHD medications

May 16, 2011 in Psychology & Psychiatry

Despite recent concerns that medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could increase the risk of cardiovascular events in children and adolescents, an observational study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and HealthCore Inc. finds they are no more likely to die from a severe cardiovascular event than those who do not take the drugs. The findings, published online in the journal Pediatrics, provide the first analysis of such events in a large population of children and adolescents receiving ADHD medications compared to non-users.

"These data provide reassurance that the thing most concerning – death – is not any higher in users of ADHD medications than non-users," says senior author Sean Hennessy, PharmD, PhD, an associate professor of Epidemiology at Penn. "For kids who will benefit from ADHD treatment, the potential risk of a should not dissuade parents or caregivers from giving a child or adolescent these drugs."

An estimated 2.7 million or 4.8 percent of all in the U.S. ages 4-17 took ADHD medications in 2007, the most recent year for which data are available. After previous studies found drugs to treat ADHD can lead to increased heart rate and blood pressure in children, Hennessy's group turned to a large database of patient records to see if patients who recently began taking ADHD medications appeared any more likely to suffer from sudden death, , or stroke.

For the study, researchers sifted through patient data contained in Medicaid databases from five states (CA, FL, PA, NY, OH) and the HealthCore Integrated Research Database, which contains historical and current and pharmacy claims data from more than 44 million enrollees in Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 14 states. Hennessy's group identified 241,417 patients ages 3-17 on ADHD medications and tracked their health records during the period they were on medication (a median of 135 days). The researchers then compared rates of sudden death, heart attack, and stroke in patients taking ADHD medications to those not taking medications who were of the same age, sex and from the same state over a median of 609 days.

The researchers found 28 deaths in the group exposed to ADHD medications (incidence 1.79 per 10,000 person-years) and 607 in the control group (incidence 3.00 per 10,000 person-years). Additionally, the researchers identified no cases of heart attack or stroke in the group who received ADHD medications and 11 cases in the unexposed group. Because the group of children and receiving ADHD medications had no validated reports of stroke and heart attack, researchers were unable to rule out relative increases in the rate of such events from use of the drugs.

"The fact that the rates of cardiovascular events that could be identified were very low is of interest because at least we can tell that we do not have an epidemic of such events in kids receiving ADHD drugs," Hennessy says. "If ADHD medications were causing an epidemic of cardiovascular events, we would expect to see it in this study."

"This is one of first answers but it won't be the last," Hennessy says, adding that since 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has been looking into the potential cardiovascular risks of ADHD medications on children. "Until the results of the FDA study become public, this study should provide reassurance to parent and caregivers that drugs are safe from cardiovascular perspective."

Provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine search and more info website

not rated yet  

Rank not rated yet
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • A question about drug tolerance
    created13 hours ago
  • Poor nutrition leading to overeating?
    createdMay 23, 2012
  • Math and dyslexia?
    createdMay 21, 2012
  • portable metabolism meter?
    createdMay 21, 2012
  • Rare medical conditions on 20/20 tonight
    createdMay 18, 2012
  • "Good" Cholesterol in Doubt
    createdMay 17, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Older African-Americans use religious songs to cope with stress, study shows

(Medical Xpress) -- New research from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Nursing has shown that older African-Americans use religious songs in a personal way to cope with stressful life events. Songs long ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created 17 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Spatial configuration can spark deja vu, psychology study reveals

(Medical Xpress) -- Déjà vu - that strange feeling of having experienced something before - is more likely to occur when a scene's spatial layout resembles one in memory, according to groundbreaking new research ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study finds humble people are the most helpful to others

In a three-part research project involving 310 students at Baylor University, UMaine psychology lecturer Jordan LaBouff and colleagues found that people determined to be humble were more willing to donate ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created 2 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Distress of child war and sex abuse victims halved by new trauma intervention

A new psychological intervention has been shown to more than halve the trauma experienced by child victims of war, rape and sexual abuse.

Psychology & Psychiatry created 7 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The Goldilocks effect: Babies learn from experiences that are 'just right'

Long before babies understand the story of Goldilocks, they have more than mastered the fairy tale heroine's method of decision-making. Infants ignore information that is too simple or too complex, focusing instead on situations ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created 14 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast


New genetic method pinpoints geographic origin

(Medical Xpress) -- Understanding the genetic diversity within and between populations has important implications for studies of human disease and evolution. This includes identifying associations between genetic variants ...

World's biggest stroke clot-buster trial reveals patient benefits

(Medical Xpress) -- Patients given a clot-busting drug within six hours of a stroke are more likely to make a better recovery than those who do not receive the treatment, new research has found.

Expert: Medicaid cuts will hurt low-, middle-income Illinois seniors

(Medical Xpress) -- Springfield’s plan to slash nearly $1.4 billion from the state’s Medicaid program will ultimately result in bigger medical (and financial) problems for low- and middle-income ...

Professor conducting study to determine whether supplements help muscles grow

Nutritional supplements are often associated with athletes and body builders, but a University of Kansas professor is conducting a research project to determine whether they are in fact, effective and if they might be able ...

No new neurons in the human olfactory bulb

(Medical Xpress) -- Research from Karolinska Institutet shows that the human olfactory bulb - a structure in the brain that processes sensory input from the nose - differs from that of other mammals in that no new neurons ...

A revealing hand

What did you have for lunch yesterday? How many times a month do you eat nuts? How about your kids -- how many servings of vegetables did they consume today?