Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: Two Hundred Eight Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: Two Hundred Eight Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder
ABSTRACT
Background: Misconceptions about ADHD stigmatize affected people, reduce credibility of providers, and prevent or delay treatment. To challenge misconceptions, we curated findings with strong evidence base. Methods: We reviewed studies with more than two thousand participants or meta-analyses from five or more studies or two thousand or more participants. We excluded meta-analyses that did not assess publication bias, except for metaanalyses of prevalence. For network meta-analyses we required comparison adjusted funnel plots. We excluded treatment studies with waiting-list or treatment as usual controls. From this literature, we extracted evidence-based assertions about the disorder.
Results: We generated two hundred eight empirically supported statements about ADHD. The status of the included statements as empirically supported is approved by eighty authors from twenty-seven countries and six continents. The contents of the manuscript are endorsed by three hundred sixty-six people who have read this document and agree with its contents.
Conclusions: Many findings in ADHD are supported by meta-analysis. These allow for firm statements about the nature, course, outcome causes, and treatments for disorders that are useful for reducing misconceptions and stigma.
One. Introduction
One. Introduction
Nearly two decades ago, an international team of scientists published the first International Consensus Statement on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. They sought to present the wealth of scientific data attesting to the validity of ADHD as a mental disorder and to correct misconceptions about the disorder that stigma- tized affected people, reduced the credibility of health care providers, and prevented or delayed treatment of individuals challenged by the disorder.
This paper updates the International Consensus Statement by cataloging important scientific discoveries from the last twenty years. We do not intend to present an encyclopedia of ADHD or guidelines for diagnosis and treatment. The latter can be found in the references cited. Our aim is to provide current and accurate information about ADHD supported by a substantial and rigorous body of evidence.