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CME/CE

Screening Adults for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  • Authors: Authors: Lenard A. Adler, MD; Julie Cohen, BA
  • THIS ACTIVITY HAS EXPIRED FOR CREDIT
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Target Audience and Goal Statement

This activity is intended for physicians, nurses, psychologists, and healthcare professionals.

The goal of this activity is to provide clinicians with the latest information on the screening and assessment tools for adult ADHD.

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

  1. Review our current screening tools for ADHD.
  2. Evaluate ADHD in adults.
  3. Discuss comorbidity in the diagnosis of ADHD.


Author(s)

  • Lenard A. Adler, MD

    Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry & Neurology, NYU School of Medicine; Director, Department of Neurology ADHD Program, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Dr. Adler has disclosed that he has minor stock holdings in Lilly, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson/McNeil, and Merck. He has received grants for clinical research from Lilly, Abbott Labs, Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson/McNeil, and Merck. He has received grants for educational activities from Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson/McNeil, and Forest Labs. He has also served as an advisor or consultant for Lilly, Abbot Labs, Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson/McNeil, and Merck. Dr. Adler reported that he does not discuss any investigational or unlabeled uses of commercial products in this activity.

  • Julie Cohen, BA

    Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Ms. Cohen has no significant financial interest to disclose.


Accreditation Statements

    For Physicians

  • Medscape, LLC is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

    Medscape designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 category 1 credit(s) toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those credits that he/she actually spent in the activity.

    The American Medical Association has determined that non-US licensed physicians who participate in this CME activity are eligible for AMA PRA category 1 credit.

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    For Nurses

  • 1.2 contact hours of continuing education for RNs, LPNs, LVNs, and NPs. This activity is cosponsored with Medical Education Collaborative, Inc. (MEC) and Medscape. MEC is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
    Board of Nursing, Provider Number FBN 2773.
    California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 12990, for 1.2 contact hours.

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    For Psychologists

  • Medical Education Collaborative, Inc. (MEC) is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. MEC maintains responsibility for the program. The course provides 1 hour(s) of credit.

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For questions regarding the content of this activity, contact the accredited provider for this CME/CE activity noted above. For technical assistance, contact [email protected]


Instructions for Participation and Credit

There are no fees for participating in or receiving credit for this online educational activity. For information on applicability and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board.

This activity is designed to be completed within the time designated on the title page; physicians should claim only those credits that reflect the time actually spent in the activity. To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the activity online during the valid credit period that is noted on the title page.

Follow these steps to earn CME/CE credit:

  1. Read the target audience, learning objectives, and author disclosures.
  2. Study the educational content online or printed out.
  3. Online, choose the best answer to each test question. To receive a certificate, you must receive a passing score as designated at the top of the test. Medscape encourages you to complete the Activity Evaluation to provide feedback for future programming.
You may now view or print the certificate from your CME/CE Tracker. You may print the certificate but you cannot alter it. Credits will be tallied in your CME/CE Tracker and archived for 5 years; at any point within this time period you can print out the tally as well as the certificates by accessing "Edit Your Profile" at the top of your Medscape homepage.

The credit that you receive is based on your user profile.

CME/CE

Screening Adults for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Authors: Authors: Lenard A. Adler, MD; Julie Cohen, BAFaculty and Disclosures
THIS ACTIVITY HAS EXPIRED FOR CREDIT

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Introduction

Some patients have clear-cut ADHD: easily distracted, difficulty staying seated, constantly losing things and forgetting appointments, problems that date back to childhood, and significant impairment in multiple areas of their life. Diagnosing a patient with those symptoms would probably seem easy, but screening for adult ADHD often isn't this textbook simple. Since almost anyone who walks into the office could fall somewhere on a continuum from mild problems with disorganization to severe ADHD, how can one confidently know where the cut-off points lie?

Screening tools like rating scales, which are typically modeled on the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), are a necessary and important first step to making a diagnosis, particularly for a primary care physician or a psychiatrist whose specialty is not adult ADHD. Most primary care physicians and psychiatrists have not had training in this area. About 60% of children with ADHD have symptoms that persist into adulthood,[1] which translates into 4% of the US adult population, or 8 million adults. There are 3 main types of rating scales: self-report, significant other/observer report, and clinician-administered. The Adult Self-Report Scale (ASRS) is a newly developed self-rating scale that can be used to screen patients who might have ADHD.[2] There are also several other widely used rating scales.