Identification and treatment of individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorder: An expert consensus statement.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occurs with substance use (SU) and/or substance use disorder (SUD). Individuals with concurrent ADHD and SU/SUD can have complex presentations that may complicate diagnosis and treatment. This can be further complicated by the context in which services are delivered. Also, when working with young people and adults with co-existing ADHD and SU/SUD, there is uncertainty among healthcare practitioners on how best to meet their needs. In February 2022, the United Kingdom ADHD Partnership hosted a meeting attended by multidisciplinary experts to address these issues. Following presentations providing attendees with an overview of the literature, group discussions were held synthesizing research evidence and clinical experience. Topics included: (1) A review of substances and reasons for use/misuse; (2) identification, assessment and treatment of illicit SU/SUD in young people and adults with ADHD presenting in community services; and (3) identification, assessment and treatment of ADHD in adults presenting in SU/SUD community and inpatient services. Dis-cussions highlighted inter-service barriers and fragmentation of care. It was concluded that a multimodal and multi-agency approach is needed. The consensus group generated a table of practice recommendations providing guidance on: identification and assessment; pharmacological and psychological treatment; and multi-agency interventions.
Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: Young S, Abbasian C, Cubbin S, Branney P, Colley B, Deeley Q, Hill P, Hollingdale J, Judge D, Lewis A, Mason P, Johnson J and Woodhouse E are affiliated with consultancy firms/private practices. Over the past five years Young S has received honoraria for consultancy and educational talks years from Janssen, Medice and Takeda. She is author of the ADHD Child Evaluation (ACE) and ACE+ for adults; and lead author of R&R2 for ADHD Youths and Adults. Hill P received honoraria for consultancy and educational talks from Takeda and Flynn Pharma. Cortese S declares honoraria and reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses for lectures from the following non-profit associations: Association for Child and Adolescent Central Health (ACAMH), Canadian ADHD Alliance Resource (CADDRA), British Association of Pharmacology (BAP), and from Healthcare Convention for educational activity on ADHD. Mason P has received honoraria for consultancy and educational talks from Takeda, Flynn Pharma and Lily. Nutt D has received honoraria for educational talks from Takeda and Janssen. Lewis A has received honoraria for consultancy to the Association for Child & Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) and Takeda and for educational talks to Forensic Treatment Division, Ministry of Justice, Republic of Korea. Mukherjee R has received honoraria for consultancy and talks related to ADHD from Takeda, Flynn Pharma and Janssen. Johnson J has received honoraria for consultancy and educational talks for Flynn Pharma, Takeda and Janssen. The remaining authors (Gudjonsson GH, Cocallis K, Roberts J, Al-Attar Z, Robinson F) declare that the meeting was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)