Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Complex Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common childhood neurodevelopmental disorder and is associated with an array of coexisting conditions that complicate diagnostic assessment and treatment. ADHD and its coexisting conditions may impact function across multiple settings (home, school, peers, community), placing the affected child or adolescent at risk for adverse health and psychosocial outcomes in adulthood. Current practice guidelines focus on the treatment of ADHD in the primary care setting. The Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics has developed this practice guideline to facilitate integrated, interprofessional assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with "complex ADHD" defined by age (<4 years or presentation at age >12 years), presence of coexisting conditions, moderate to severe functional impairment, diagnostic uncertainty, or inadequate response to treatment.

Assessment and Management of Tic Disorders in Pediatric Primary Care Settings.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Pediatricians and other primary care providers are often the first and sole healthcare clinicians of patients who present with tics. However, limited primary care pediatric training in neuropsychiatric concerns, as well as perceived lack of comfort and preparation, make it challenging for these clinicians to confidently identify and manage tic disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: Current empirical findings of tic disorder management relevant to pediatric physicians, including assessment, psychoeducation, behavioral interventions, psychotropic medications, and alternative treatments are reviewed. SUMMARY: This article discusses neuropsychiatric and medical complexities of tic disorder assessment, with particular emphasis on differential and comorbid diagnoses. Tiered referral recommendations, based on symptom severity, impairment, and consideration of comorbid conditions, are provided. Future directions for tic management, including dissemination of evidence-based treatments of tic disorders and multidisciplinary teams within pediatric primary care settings, are included.

Dental Homes for Children With Autism: A Longitudinal Analysis of Iowa Medicaid's I-Smile Program.

INTRODUCTION: Medicaid-enrolled children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter significant barriers to dental care. Iowa's I-Smile Program was implemented in 2006 to improve dental use for all children in Medicaid. This study compared dental home and preventive dental utilization rates for Medicaid-enrolled children by ASD status and within three time periods (pre-implementation, initial implementation, maturation) and determined I-Smile's longitudinal influence on ASD-related dental use disparities. METHODS: Data from 2002-2011 were analyzed for newly Medicaid-enrolled children aged 3-17 years (N=30,059); identified each child's ASD status; and assessed whether the child had a dental home or utilized preventive dental care. Log-linear regression models were used to generate rate ratios. Analyses were conducted in 2015. RESULTS: In 2003-2011, 9.8% of children with ASD had dental homes compared with 8% of children without ASD; 36.3% of children with ASD utilized preventive care compared to 45.7% of children without ASD. There were no significant differences in dental home rates by ASD status during pre-implementation, initial implementation, or maturation. There were no significant differences in preventive dental utilization by ASD status during pre-implementation or initial implementation, but children with ASD were significantly less likely to utilize preventive care during maturation (rate ratio=0.79, p<0.001). Longitudinal trends in dental home and preventive dental utilization rates were not significant (p=0.54 and p=0.71, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Among newly Medicaid-enrolled children in Iowa's I-Smile Program, those with ASDs were not less likely than those without ASD to have dental homes but were significantly less likely to utilize preventive dental care.

A phenomenological investigation of women with Tourette or other chronic tic disorders.

There are little data concerning clinical characteristics of women with Tourette disorder and chronic tic disorders in the extant literature and what is available mostly focuses on treatment-seeking individuals. The present research was conducted to provide a phenomenological characterization of tic disorders among 185 adult women with tic disorders. In addition to providing a descriptive overview of specific tic symptoms, tic severity, self-reported history of other psychiatric conditions, and impairment/lifestyle impact due to tics, this study compares 185 women and 275 men between 18 and 79 years old with tic disorders (who completed an identical battery of measures) based on demographic, social/economic status indicators, psychiatric variables (comorbidity, family psychiatric history, symptom presentation), adaptive functioning/quality of life, and impairment variables among a nonclinical adult sample. Finally, this research examines the relationship between tic severity and impairment indicators among women with tics. Sixty-eight percent of women in our sample reported severe motor tics and 40% reported severe phonic tics. Our exploratory data suggest that a sizeable number of adult women with persistent tics are suffering from psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial consequences such as underachievement and social distress. Tic severity in women may be associated with lifestyle interference as well as with symptoms of depression and anxiety, and such symptoms may be more common among women with tics than in men with tics.

Exploring the impact of chronic tic disorders on youth: results from the Tourette Syndrome Impact Survey.

Prior research has demonstrated that chronic tic disorders (CTD) are associated with functional impairment across several domains. However, methodological limitations, such as data acquired by parental report, datasets aggregated across child and adult samples, and small treatment-seeking samples, curtail interpretation. The current study explored the functional impact of tics among youth in a large, "virtual" community sample. An Internet-based survey was completed by families with children who had CTD. The sample included 740 parents and 232 of their children (ages 10-17 years). The survey assessed impact across five functional domains: physical, social, familial, academic, and psychological. Health-related quality of life and perceptions of discrimination resulting from tics were also assessed. Results suggest that (1) youth with CTD experience mild to moderate functional impairment, (2) impairment is generally positively correlated with tic severity, (3) children with CTD plus one or more co-occurring psychiatric conditions tend to have greater functional impairment, and (4) a notable portion of youth with CTD experience discrimination due to tics. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.