RESUMO
Although guidelines for the assessment and treatment of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence have been available in Germany for several years, there are barely any data on adherence to guidelines in national routine care. Therefore, the study aimed at a nationwide evaluation of guideline adherence (GA) for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in German routine care in various groups of health care providers (HCPs). Besides a detailed description of GA, the study focused on examining possible differences between professional groups. Furthermore, data based on global self-reports of clinicians were compared with ratings of documented care in individual patients. Protocols of 73 clinicians regarding their handling of ADHD in routine care for 167 patients were rated according to German guideline recommendations for ADHD care. GA was measured as the proportion of components fulfilled in each individual patient as documented by the HCP. The results were compared to a preceding interview with clinicians regarding their GA. Multilevel models were constructed to detect differences in GA between professional groups. Based on mandatory guideline components, adherence rates of 38.9-72.7% were found and classified as moderate (33.3% < GA ≤ 66.6%) to high (GA > 66.6%). The comparison of the GA between the professional groups generally yielded only small differences. Correlations between GA reported globally by the HCPs and GA documented and rated for individual cases were low. Overall, most rates of GA for ADHD in German routine care lay within a moderate range. Targets for enhancement of GA may be the involvement of teachers and schools in the treatment process, the implementation of psychoeducational methods in general, as well as a careful examination of patients, including monitoring of treatment effects during titration trials. The development of further strategies to monitor the quality of ADHD routine care is needed.
Assuntos
Transtorno do Deficit de Atenção com Hiperatividade/diagnóstico , Fidelidade a Diretrizes/normas , Criança , Feminino , Alemanha , Humanos , Masculino , Estudos Retrospectivos , Instituições AcadêmicasRESUMO
Adherence to guidelines in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents in routine care: A representative survey Abstract. Objective: The study evaluated guideline adherence in the current routine care of children and adolescents with Attention Deficit-/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in various groups of healthcare providers nationwide. Method: N = 275 providers from all relevant groups of a Germany-wide random sample (specialists in pediatric and adolescent medicine, child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychotherapists and all Social Pediatric Centers, outpatient departments of child and adolescent psychiatric clinics and behavioral therapy training institutes) participated in an online interview. Results: The recommendations in the guidelines were implemented on average in 75-100 % of the patients. Exceptions were those of teacher/educator exploration and school interventions. Questionnaires on diagnostics and follow-up or psychotherapeutic interventions were applied comparatively rarely, in about 50 % of the patients. Differences between provider groups and correlations with sociodemographic variables were analyzed at the level of the adherence indices. Conclusions: Overall, the participants reported high guideline adherence. We found a high similarity of the data in different care segments within the care providers. Differences in self-reports of the various care groups stimulate considerations of the roles in the care process with ADHD patients.