Disclaimer and Process
Disclaimer Process Disclaimer These guidelines do not purport to provide a comprehensive review of all the literature pertinent to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but aim to provide a set of diagnostic and treatment guidelines relevant to the South African context. They should be utilised in conjunction with other international guidelines. It remains the responsibility of p
Disclaimer
These guidelines do not purport to provide a comprehensive review of all the literature pertinent to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but aim to provide a set of diagnostic and treatment guidelines relevant to the South African context. They should be utilised in conjunction with other international guidelines. It remains the responsibility of practitioners to maintain a high level of personal knowledge and expertise. For many South Africans, guidelines such as these remain an unreachable ideal because of poor identification and treatment of common mental disorders and limited access to scarce specialist resources. Most South Africans rely on the public healthcare sector and may not have access to treatment options referred to in these guidelines. These guidelines should therefore not be seen as a policy document.
Process
The South African Society of Psychiatrists’ Special Interest Group (SIG) for ADHD was launched in 2015. The overall objective of the ADHD SIG is to improve the basket of care available to patients with ADHD. This is only possible through a combined and concerted effort of individuals with a special interest in and passion for ADHD to improve knowledge about and funding for the care of individuals with the disorder. One of the specific aims of the ADHD SIG was to develop South African guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD (published in 2017) and update guidelines for the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents, initially published by Flischer and Hawkridge in 2013. The SIG tasked Dr Brendan Belsham and Dr Linda Kelly to update the South African guidelines for managing ADHD in children. They requested assistance from Prof. Renata Schoeman because of her experience in academic writing and guideline development. The initial draft of the guidelines was circulated to a core group of local experts for review. These experts represented the SASOP ADHD SIG, the SASOP Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Special Interest Group (CAPSIG) and the Paediatric Neurology and Development Association of Southern Africa (PANDA-SA). They provided written feedback and evidencebased suggestions, which were then incorporated in the final document that was submitted to the SASOP and PsychMg boards for recommendation and ratification.
Belsham B, Kelly L, Schoeman R_The SASOP/PsychMg child and adolescent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder guidelines_South African Journal of Psychiatry; 25 February 2025