[Drug treatment of school XXXX with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder].

@entity1 @entity1032 @entity2438 @entity2033 @entity195 @entity4944 @entity2727
BACKGROUND: The use of stimulants in the treatment of @entity195 / @entity2033 has increased dramatically over the last twenty years. We wanted to assess the prevalence of students treated with stimulants in the elementary schools in the city of Trondheim, Norway. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty of 53 schools (94%), representing 16,141 students, answered two questionnaires. @entity1032 , @entity2438 and otherwise severely handicapped students attending special groups or schools, were excluded. RESULTS: In all, 57 students (3.5 per 1,000) were treated with either @entity2727 or racemic @entity4944 . Multivariate analysis suggested that the structure of the classroom was an essential risk factor for being treated with stimulants. The risk was higher in so-called "open schools" (no fixed walls between groups of students) than in schools with traditional classrooms (< 30 students in rooms separated by fixed walls). (Odds ratio: 5.5; 95% confidence interval: 1.1-26.4.) More detailed information was obtained from 47 of the 57 students; only one of whom was female. Teaching resources required for optimal pedagogical treatment were available for about one out of two of these 47 students. INTERPRETATION: Our results do not suggest that an inappropriately high proportion of students in the region are taking stimulants for @entity195 / @entity2033 . On the contrary, @entity195 / @entity2033 may be underdiagnosed and inadequately treated in @entity1 . It seems likely that students with @entity195 / @entity2033 are less likely to be treated with stimulants in schools with traditional classrooms, and our results also suggest a lack of teaching resources for these students.
