# The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: 208 Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder ### Summary Misconceptions about ADHD stigmatize affected people, reduce credibility of providers, and prevent/delay treatment. To challenge misconceptions, we curated findings with strong evidence base. ### Highlights - Taking side effects into account, the medications with the best benefit-to-risk ratios were methylphenidate for children and adolescents, and ==amphetamines for adults== (Section 149A) - Another meta-analysis, covering six [RCTs](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/randomized-controlled-trial "Learn more about RCTs from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages") with 253 participants, reported that ==methylphenidate strongly reduced [adult ADHD](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/adult-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder "Learn more about adult ADHD from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages") symptoms==, with higher doses resulting in greater improvement (Section 152A) - A meta-analysis of nine RCTs comprising 1463 patients found that discontinuing medications led to a worsening in quality of life for children and adolescents but not adults (Section 159A) - A meta-analysis of methylphenidate treatment for ADHD found moderate improvements in response inhibition (25 studies, 787 participants) and sustained attention (29 studies, 956 participants), but ==no significant effect on working memory== (13 studies, 559 participants) (Section 176) - A study using Danish national registers followed over 700,000 individuals for an average period of almost a decade. Looking at 8300 people with ADHD, ==stimulant users had more than twice the rate of cardiovascular events (primarily hypertension)== than nonusers. These events were rare (Section 181) - ==Omega-3== fatty acid supplementation was associated with small-to-medium improvements in ADHD symptoms in three meta-analyses (ten studies with 699 participants, 16 studies with 1408 participants, 7 studies with 534 participants). Another meta-analysis, with 18 studies and 1640 participants, found tiny improvements (Section 204) - A meta-analysis of five double-blind [crossover studies](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/crossover-study "Learn more about crossover studies from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages") with 164 participants found that restricting ==synthetic food colors== from children’s diets was associated with a small reduction in ADHD symptoms (Section 206) - Another meta-analysis found no significant effect of exercise on either hyperactivity/impulsivity (4 studies, 227 participants) or inattention symptoms (6 studies, 277 participants), but significant reductions in anxiety and depression (5 studies, 164 participants) (Section 207) - The disorder affects 5.9 % of youth and 2.8 % of adults worldwide. (Chapter 14)