Hyperactivity and Inattentiveness: School Assessment of Stimulant Treatment

The school health folders of all students receiving stimulant medication for hyperactivity/inattentiveness from five public elementary and two middle schools in Baltimore County were evaluated to 1) record pre-treatment teacher ratings of those on stimulant medication; 2) assess, using the rating scales, the initial and subsequent effectiveness of the medication; and 3) to identify treatment subgroups. Major findings were 1) three-fourths of the 176 students on stimulant medication in 1987 had pre-treatment ratings consistent with moderate to severe hyperactivity /inattentiveness; 2) over 90 percent of the students evidenced at least 50 percent improvement initially following stimulant treatment by teacher ratings; 3) 76 percent of the medicated students continued to show this level of improvement at the end of the 1987 school year; 4) medication improvement and compliance declined in middle school; 5) 15 percent of the students on stimulant medication in 1987 were inattentive but not hyperactive on baseline teacher ratings, but their degree of improvement with stimulants was equivalent to that of hyperactives; 6) in the county-run hyperkinetic clinic, the subpopulation of inattentive/non-hyperactive students on stimulants rose from 7 percent to 18 percent of the total between 1976 and 1987.