Effectiveness of Medications for Attention Deficits After Nonprogressive Brain Injury
This is the Medscape Neurology Minute. I am Dr. Alan Jacobs. Researchers from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, have published a review of the effectiveness of medication use to improve attention in people with static brain injuries.They identified 47 studies published between 1987 and 2008. Twenty-six selected studies that used outcome measures of attention recruited subjects older than 18 years with the diagnosis of new-onset or previously acquired brain injury who were given medication to improve attention. Five of the studies had level 1 evidence, 12 had level 2 evidence, and 9 had level 3 evidence. Researchers found that methylphenidate can improve information processing speed in some people after suffering a traumatic brain injury. They found weak evidence for the use of dopamine agonists to improve neglect or inattention after stroke. They were unable to find robust evidence to recommend the routine use of medications to improve cognitive complications of traumatic brain injury and stroke. However, the existing evidence indicates the potential for benefit in some patients and researchers felt that further research is definitely warranted. This article was selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Alan Jacobs.
This is the Medscape Neurology Minute. I am Dr. Alan Jacobs. Researchers from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, have published a review of the effectiveness of medication use to improve attention in people with static brain injuries.They identified 47 studies published between 1987 and 2008. Twenty-six selected studies that used outcome measures of attention recruited subjects older than 18 years with the diagnosis of new-onset or previously acquired brain injury who were given medication to improve attention. Five of the studies had level 1 evidence, 12 had level 2 evidence, and 9 had level 3 evidence. Researchers found that methylphenidate can improve information processing speed in some people after suffering a traumatic brain injury. They found weak evidence for the use of dopamine agonists to improve neglect or inattention after stroke. They were unable to find robust evidence to recommend the routine use of medications to improve cognitive complications of traumatic brain injury and stroke. However, the existing evidence indicates the potential for benefit in some patients and researchers felt that further research is definitely warranted. This article was selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Alan Jacobs.
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