Keywords
Citation
(2010), "Australia - Updated draft Australian Guidelines on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) published", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 23 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2010.06223cab.004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Australia - Updated draft Australian Guidelines on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) published
Article Type: News and views From: International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Volume 23, Issue 3
Keywords: Evidence based healthcare, Patient information, ADHD treatment guidelines, Australia
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has made available an updated draft Australian Guidelines on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other useful information to assist parents and medical professionals to recognise and appropriately treat ADHD.
More than 350,000 Australian children and adolescents are estimated to have ADHD. The Rudd Government, medical professionals and parents have been concerned for some time about the lack of clear, evidence-based information to assist the many people affected by this condition.
The NHMRC and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) have agreed to make available the draft Australian Guidelines prior to formal consideration by the Council of the NHMRC.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians was funded by the Department of Health and Ageing to update the old Guidelines, which were withdrawn in 2005.
The RACP has conducted a thorough and careful process to develop these draft Guidelines. They utilised a panel of independent experts to review the scientific evidence, and an independent scientific writer to prepare the draft document, with the work overseen by an expert working group. The panel produced an initial draft of the Guidelines in 2008, which was issued for public comment in July 2008.
The draft was amended to take into account feedback from this consultation period and submitted to the NHMRC, which provided feedback in early 2009. The Guidelines were amended as required and re-submitted to NHMRC for consideration.
The Council of the NHMRC will formally consider the draft Guidelines after an alleged conflict of interest investigation into a US-based researcher is completed. Whilst the work of this researcher is referenced in the Guidelines, the researcher has not been involved in any way in the production of the Guidelines.
The draft Guidelines have been released along with supplementary information prepared by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). This information summarises the process involved in developing the Guidelines and provides further references for people who want to seek additional information about the analysis and management of ADHD.
For more information visit: www.health.gov.au