Substance Use Disorder and Pharmacological Treatment of ADHD (1 CE)

Number of Credits: 1

This course is for:  Clinical Psychologists, Counselors, and Nurses

Course By: Tim Grigsby, PhD

Content By: Carpentier, P. J., & Levin, F. R. (2017). Pharmacological treatment of ADHD in addicted patients: What does the literature tell us? Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 25(2), 50-64.

Course Description: Epidemiological data suggest that substance use disorder (SUD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occur. Moreover, clinical evidence suggests that ADHD might exacerbate SUD symptomology and make treatment more difficult. While pharmacotherapy has proven effective in the management of ADHD symptoms, little research exists documenting its efficacy in patients with co-occurring SUD. This course reviews the state of the evidence of ADHD pharmacotherapy in SUD patient populations and provides recommendations for future clinical trial research and integration of ADHD treatment in patients with co-occurring SUD and other psychiatric conditions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the perceived barriers of implementing ADHD pharmacotherapy in patients with SUD
2. Compare and contrast the effectiveness of pharmacological agents for ADHD in patients with SUD
3. Assess the clinical implications of integrating ADHD pharmacotherapy in SUD populations for different pharmacological agents

Course Outline:

• Read and understand Pharmacological treatment of ADHD in addicted patients: What does the literature tell us?
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
• Reflect on the effectiveness of ADHD pharmacotherapy in the context of addiction and other psychiatric comorbidities
• Work through the post-test questions; keep in mind that answer selections should be derived from the respective article
• Return to the referenced article for any missed questions and/or to better understand how addiction treatment and the presence of other psychiatric comorbidities might impact the effectiveness of ADHD pharmacotherapy

Implicit biases incorporate an association that occurs outside of conscious awareness that may resultantly lead to a negative patient evaluation derived from irrelevant characteristics; i.e. gender and/or race. A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Thirty-five studies identified the existence of implicit bias in healthcare professionals; all correlational studies evidenced a significant positive relationship between implicit bias levels and lower quality of care (FitzGerald & Hurst, 2017). Continued research in health care settings, combined with greater method homogeneity, should be employed to examine the occurrence and prevalence of implicit biases in healthcare settings as a strategic approach for mitigating related disparities (FitzGerald & Hurst, 2017).

Reference

FitzGerald, C., Hurst, S. (2017). Implicit bias in healthcare professionals: A systematic review. BMC Med Ethics 18, 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0179-8

Approvals: