Non-pharmacological approaches to treating children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been recommended as the first port of treatment in updated draft guidelines released yesterday.
Issued by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the guidelines state that medications should only be used when symptoms are pervasive across school and home and cause significant impairment.
According to the new guidelines, medications should never be used as first-line treatment for ADHD in preschool-aged children, as opposed to previous guidelines which said "medication should be considered for all children with ADHD".
RACP chairman David Forbes said the new "multimodal" treatment approach would result in fewer children on drugs.
"Treatment may include education, psychosocial strategies, behavioral management and changes in nutrition and medication," he said.
In October, the Therapeutic Goods Administration was forced to fend off claims in the mainstream media that serious psychotic reactions from ADHD drugs in children were on the rise.
The draft guidelines, which are awaiting formal consideration from the council of the NHMRC, were released despite relying on the research of a US academic whose integrity was under investigation.
"I am pleased that we can finally provide this more up-to-date information on ways to identify and care for those in our community who may be suffering from ADHD," Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said.