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. 2020 Aug 7;9(8):2566.
doi: 10.3390/jcm9082566.

Methylphenidate in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Long-Term Follow up Naturalistic Study

Patrizia Ventura  1 , Concetta de Giambattista  1 , Laura Spagnoletta  1 , Paolo Trerotoli  2 , Maddalena Cavone  1 , Alessandra Di Gioia  1 , Lucia Margari  1
Affiliations

Methylphenidate in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Long-Term Follow up Naturalistic Study

Patrizia Ventura et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often co-occurs with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although methylphenidate (MPH) efficacy and safety are well-demonstrated for ADHD, evidences are scant in the context of ASD. This naturalistic study aimed to analyze long-term MPH efficacy and safety in 40 ADHD children and adolescents with comorbid ASD, comparing them with 40 ones affected by ADHD without ASD. Treatment lasted from 6 to 156 months (longer than 24 months in more than three quarters of patients). Efficacy and safety were measured by clinical global impression and children global assessment scales; influence of intellectual functioning was examined. Comparisons between groups were made by Wilcoxon or Friedmann tests; relationships between functioning scores and other characteristics were analyzed by ordinal logistic and linear regression. Results demonstrated that MPH in patients with ASD was associated with significative reduction of illness severity, clinical improvement and amelioration of global functioning, without significant differences with patients having ADHD without ASD. The trend of reduction of illness severity and increase of global functioning were favorably related with intellectual functioning. No serious adverse events were reported. The findings showed that long-term MPH was effective and well-tolerated in ADHD children and adolescents with comorbid high functioning ASD.

Keywords: ADHD; ASD; MPH; attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; autism spectrum disorder; high-functioning ASD; methylphenidate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationship between probability to have a certain class of ΔCGI-S amelioration and IQ in ASD + ADHD group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship between probability to have a certain class of ΔCGI-S amelioration and IQ in ADHD group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatter plot to evaluate relationship between C-GAS improvement and IQ. This factor resulted statistically significant in the multivariable model. The line is drawn with the slope (b = 0.1, p = 0.0003) estimated in the multivariable model and other variables set at their mean level.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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