Study authors Dr. Stephen V. Faraone and Dr. Stephen J. Glatt note that stimulants have been the mainstay of ADHD pharmacotherapy for decades. Several nonstimulant medications have also been shown effective – tricyclic antidepressants, bupropion, Provigil, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, guanfacine, atomoxetine, and clonidine.
However, it’s been difficult to compare different drugs or drug classes due to the lack of head-to-head trials.
Drs. Faraone and Glatt, both from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, searched the medical literature for double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of ADHD in adults published after 1979, in which subjects were followed for at least 2 weeks. They identified 18 articles that involved more than 2000 subjects and evaluated 13 drugs.
