The DOI matches its Crossref record; 75 of the 77 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Methylphenidate for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents: Cochrane systematic review with meta-analyses and trial sequential analyses of randomised clinical trials
Open accessAbstract
STUDY QUESTION: Is methylphenidate beneficial or harmful for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents? METHODS: Electronic databases were searched up to February 2015 for parallel and crossover randomised clinical trials comparing methylphenidate with placebo or no intervention in children and adolescents with ADHD. Meta-analyses and trial sequential analyses (TSA) were conducted. Quality was assessed using GRADE. Teachers, parents, and observers rated ADHD symptoms and general behaviour. STUDY ANSWER AND LIMITATIONS: The analyses included 38 parallel group trials (n=5111, median treatment duration 49 days) and 147 crossover trials (n=7134, 14 days). The average age across all studies was 9.7 years. The analysis suggested a beneficial effect of methylphenidate on teacher rated symptoms in 19 parallel group trials (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.77, n=1698), corresponding to a mean difference of -9.6 points on the ADHD rating scale. There was no evidence that methylphenidate was associated with an increase in serious adverse events (risk ratio 0.98, nine trials, n=1532; TSA adjusted intervention effect RR 0.91). Methylphenidate was associated with an increased risk of non-serious adverse events (1.29, 21 trials, n=3132; TSA adjusted RR 1.29). Teacher rated general behaviour seemed to improve with methylphenidate (SMD -0.87, five trials, n=668) A change of 7 points on the child health questionnaire (CHQ) has been deemed a minimal clinically relevant difference. The change reported in a meta-analysis of three trials corresponds to a mean difference of 8.0 points on the CHQ (range 0-100 points), which suggests that methylphenidate may improve parent reported quality of life (SMD 0.61, three trials, n=514). 96.8% of trials were considered high risk of bias trials according to the Cochrane guidelines. All outcomes were assessed very low quality according to GRADE. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: The results suggest that among children and adolescents with a diagnosis of ADHD, methylphenidate may improve teacher reported symptoms of ADHD and general behaviour and parent reported quality of life. However, given the risk of bias in the included studies, and the very low quality of outcomes, the magnitude of the effects is uncertain. Methylphenidate is associated with an increased risk of non-serious but not serious adverse events. FUNDING, COMPETING INTERESTS, DATA SHARING: Region Zealand Research Foundation and Copenhagen Trial Unit. Competing interests are given in the full paper on bmj.com. Full data are available in the version of this review published in The Cochrane Library.
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“The most common prescribed drug for treatment of ADHD is methylphenidate (MPH) and it is believed that it can improve cognitive function through a dopaminergic effect (Storebø et al. 2015).”
From Crocus sativus L. Versus Methylphenidate in Treatment of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind Pilot Study (2019) · cites this paper as Storebø et al. 2015
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2 retracted
Immediate-release methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults
Epstein, T., Patsopoulos, N. A., & Weiser, M. (2014) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd005041.pub2 · Cited by 65
RetractedImmediate-release methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults
Epstein, T., Patsopoulos, N. A., & Weiser, M. (2016) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd005041.pub3 · Cited by 62
RetractedPreferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & for the PRISMA Group (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2535 · Cited by 83,823
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA Statement.
(2009) · PubMed Central · Cited by 44,859
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & the PRISMA Group* (2009) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135 · Cited by 37,554
PRISMA-P Group, Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., & Stewart, L. A. (2015) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/2046-4053-4-1 · Cited by 26,223
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.06.005 · Cited by 19,575
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gotzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2700 · Cited by 17,648
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00136 · Cited by 10,349
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
Higgins, J. P. T., Green, S., & Ben Van Den, A. (2020) · International Coaching Psychology Review · doi:10.53841/bpsicpr.2020.15.2.123 · Cited by 5,670
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- [27]Storebø O, Pedersen N, Krogh H, et al. Methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents—assessment of harms in observational studies. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015; (In press). PMC6494554 29744873
- [59]Gluud C, Nikolova D, Klingenberg SL. Cochrane Hepato-Biliary About the Cochrane Collaboration (Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs). Cochrane Rev Groups 2015;1(Art.No:LIVER). www.cochranelibrary.com/about/cochrane-review-groups.html.
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Items 201–208 of 208
Attention deficit disorder in adolescents – a sociological perspective
Buczkowski, A. (2025) · International Journal of Pedagogy Innovation and New Technologies · doi:10.71358/ijpint.2630
“Meta-analyses have confirmed that short-term pharmacotherapy can lead to improved school and social functioning (Storebø et al., 2015).”
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders and Developmental Criminality and Violence
Eme, R. F. (2026) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118832202.ch6
Bogomolova, E. V., Mikhailova, A. A., Semenova, P. A., & Nagornev, S. N. (2026) · Fizioterapevt (Physiotherapist) · doi:10.33920/med-14-2602-10
Tramoni, M., Giudici, L., Mancini, S., Scheffler, E. L., de Cerqueira, B. B., Mossmann, J. B., BARBOSA, D. N. F., Trabattoni, S., Mauri, V., Nobile, M., et al. (2026) · Applied Neuropsychology Child · doi:10.1080/21622965.2026.2672445
Bransom, L., Bassett, A. P., Zhou, M., Mailman, R. B., & Yang, Y. (2026) · Discover Pharmaceutical Sciences · doi:10.1007/s44395-026-00047-3
“The current findings underscore the limitations of using stimulants, such as MPH, to treat ADHD, mirroring observations in patients [69, 70].”
Yao, J., Gao, X., Zhu, L., Wang, L., Chen, Q., Liang, W., Feng, H., You, T., Wei, C., Liu, Y., et al. (2026) · BMC Gastroenterology · doi:10.1186/s12876-026-05079-8
“…include psychotic symptoms and mood disorders, occurring at a rate of approximately 3%; additionally, approximately one-quarter of children and adolescents experience non-serious adverse events after medication, such as sleep disturbances, decreased appetite, abdominal pain, and diarrhea [19, 20].”
Refined trial sequential analysis for meta-analyses with few studies
Wang, Y., & Lin, L. (2026) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C (Applied Statistics) · doi:10.1093/jrsssc/qlag050
Lyhmann, I., Widding‐Havneraas, T., Markussen, S., Zachrisson, H. D., Elwert, F., Chaulagain, A., Bjelland, I., Halmøy, A., & Mykletun, A. (2026) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.2026.10754
Metadata
- Authors
- Storebø, O. J., Krogh, H. B., Ramstad, E., Moreira-Maia, C. R., Holmskov, M., Skoog, M., Nilausen, T. D., Magnusson, F. L., Zwi, M., Gillies, D., Rosendal, S., Groth, C., Rasmussen, K. B., Gauci, D., Kirubakaran, R., Forsbøl, B., Simonsen, E., & Gluud, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Region Zealand (DK)
- Copenhagen University Hospital (DK)
- Whittington Hospital (GB)
- Western Sydney Local Health District (AU)
- Capital Region of Denmark (DK)
- Herlev Hospital (DK)
- Ministry for Health (MT)
- Christian Medical College, Vellore (IN)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Storebø, Ole Jakob
- ORCID
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2015-11-25
- Volume
- 351
- Pages
- h5203
- ISSN
- 1756-1833 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4659414
- OpenAlex
- W2179260900
- Cited by
- 209
- References
- 77
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 4.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- OAR@UM (University of Malta) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Gentofte Hospital
- Syddansk Universitet
- Region Sjælland
- Copenhagen Trial Unit, Centre for Clinical Intervention Research
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pharmaceutical studies and practices
- Keywords
- methylphenidate, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, children, adolescents, ADHD symptoms, quality of life, adverse events, stimulant medication, teacher ratings, parent ratings, trial sequential analysis, risk of bias, quality of evidence, minimal clinically important difference, Child Health Questionnaire
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Central Nervous System Stimulants, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Drug Administration Schedule, Humans, Methylphenidate, Quality of Life, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Treatment Outcome, Cross-Over Studies
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