A retrospective single-center study on the characteristics of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder requiring early drug therapy from 2013 to 2022 and changes in treatment over time.

To clarify the characteristics of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) requiring early drug therapy and changes in ADHD treatment over time, we undertook a clinical survey of ADHD children. We retrospectively classified 168 children with ADHD into groups based on the presence [Group 1, (the early treatment Group A, non-early treatment Group B)] or absence (Group 2) of ADHD drug therapy. The older age at first examination and the frequency of patients born with low birth weight in Group 1 were higher than those in Group 2. The ADHD-Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) scores for total (ADHD-RS-T) and trouble scores (TS) in Group 1 were higher than those in Group 2. All patients requiring early drug medication were diagnosed with ADHD at age 6 or older and showed significantly higher ADHD-RS hyperactivity disorder (ADHD-RS-H) and TS. Guanfacine was the main drug prescribed, being the first-line drug in 45.0% of cases. These results suggest that characteristics of patients requiring early ADHD drug medication include age 6 years or older at first examination and high ADHD-RS-H, ADHD-RS-T and TS. Furthermore, an increase in the frequency of prescriptions for guanfacine was observed as a prescription trend for ADHD medications.