ArticlePediatrics2014
ADHD, stimulant treatment, and growth: a longitudinal study.
Article in Pediatrics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of methylphenidate on height in pediatric attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Growth Trajectories in Stimulant Treated Children and Adolescents: A Qualitative Review of the Literature from Comprehensive Datasets and Registries.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of sample-level dbGaP data reveals novel shared genetic link between body height and Crohn's disease.Human genetics · 2021Pooled it
- Methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents - assessment of adverse events in non-randomised studies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Long-term study of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate in Japanese children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2020Trial
- The impact of ADHD and neurostimulant treatment on normalized height deviance after accounting for genetic height potential.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Photobiomodulation as a therapeutic approach for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in model rats.Lasers in medical science · 2025Article
- Treatment Approaches and Growth Parameters in Pediatric ADHD: Examining Differences Across Race.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Pubertal timing in adolescents with ADHD: extension and replication in an all-female sample.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Anthropometric status of preschoolers and elementary school children with ADHD: preliminary results from the EPINED study.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Effect of stimulants on final adult height.Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM · 2022Review
- Stimulant use and bone health in US children and adolescents: analysis of the NHANES data.European journal of pediatrics · 2022Article
- A 24-Month Effects of Methylphenidate Use on Growth in Children and Adolescents With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.Psychiatry investigation · 2022Article
- Review
- Overdiagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Scoping Review.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications and BMI trajectories: The role of medication type, sex and age.Pediatric obesity · 2021Article
- Effects of methylphenidate on height, weight and blood biochemistry parameters in prepubertal boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: an open label prospective study.Scandinavian journal of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology · 2021Article
- Trajectories of Growth Associated With Long-Term Stimulant Medication in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2020Article
- Effect of Sickle Cell Anemia Therapies on the Natural History of Growth and Puberty Patterns.Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology · 2019Article
- Brain iron levels in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder normalize as a function of psychostimulant treatment duration.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveThere is ongoing concern that stimulant medications may adversely affect growth. In a sample of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) cases and controls from a population-based birth cohort, we assessed growth and the association between stimulant treatment and growth.
methodsSubjects included childhood ADHD cases (N = 340) and controls (N = 680) from a 1976 to 1982 birth cohort (N = 5718). Height and stimulant treatment information were abstracted from medical records and obtained during a prospective, adult follow-up study. For each subject, a parametric penalized spline smoothing method modeled height over time, and the corresponding height velocity was calculated as the first derivative. Peak height velocity (PHV) age and magnitude were estimated from the velocity curves. Among stimulant-treated ADHD cases, we analyzed height Z scores at the beginning, at the end, and 24 months after the end of treatment.
resultsNeither ADHD itself nor treatment with stimulants was associated with differences in magnitude of PHV or final adult height. Among boys treated with stimulants, there was a positive correlation between duration of stimulant usage before PHV and age at PHV (r = 0.21, P = .01). There was no significant correlation between duration of treatment and change in height Z scores (r = -0.08 for beginning vs end change, r = 0.01 for end vs 24 months later change). Among the 59 ADHD cases treated for ≥3 years, there was a clinically insignificant decrease in mean Z score from beginning (0.48) to end (0.33) of treatment (P = .06).
conclusionsOur findings suggest that ADHD treatment with stimulant medication is not associated with differences in adult height or significant changes in growth.
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Registered trials
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