Can Adverse Event Patterns Inform Shared Decision-Making in ADHD Treatment? A Systematic Review of Evidence From Registration Trials for FDA-Approved Treatments in Adults.

Introduction: Adult patients and clinicians are faced with several pharmacological options to manage attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). If types or rates of adverse experiences vary among these options, these differences could inform the shared decision-making process.

Methods: To discern differentiating evidence-based patterns of risk, we analyzed data from FDA package labels for drugs approved to treat adult ADHD and reports from the registration trials used to create these labels. Three analyses of adverse effects were conducted: placebo-corrected occurrence at rates of 1 in 5, 10, and 20 participants, association with discontinuation, and uniqueness of occurrence within the treatment options.

Results: Among the 7 agents approved to treat adult ADHD, the number of types of side effects experienced during a mix of fixed and flexible-dose studies was greatest among the nonstimulant medications, but the stimulant medications had higher rates of occurrence of side effects. The minimum frequency at which all medications had adverse events was 1 in 10 participants. Overall discontinuation rates did not differ among the stimulant medications nor between stimulants and nonstimulants.

Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first study to compile and compare data from all FDA registration trials for medications approved to treat adult ADHD. This article describes a process by which readily available adverse event reporting data can be used as a tool to inform shared clinical decision-making. While differences in the methodology and outcome reporting of the trials included may limit generalizability, the number of individual patients included and the completeness of the discontinuation data can be used to inform discussions with patients about the relative likelihood of adverse experiences and other patient concerns.