Source: DGNews  |  Posted 9 years ago

By Paula Moyer
Special to DG News

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The driving performance of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be affected by the use of immediate release or sustained release methylphenidate (Concerta).

"Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in adolescents, and the rate for such deaths is four times higher for adolescent drivers with ADHD," said Dr. Daniel J. Cox, a professor of psychiatric medicine at University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.

"The key ADHD-related problem that affects their driving is inattention. However, when treated with stimulant therapy, they drive as well as those without this condition."

In research presented here October 27 at the 49th annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), Dr. Cox's team found that a sustained-release formulation of methylphenidate is associated with continued attentive driving into the evening hours. On the other hand, impairments are more likely to become manifest during night-time driving when the patients take an immediate-release formulation (Ritalin), because the medication