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Publisher's version (útgefin grein), Background There is evidence to suggest that the broad discrepancy in the ratio of males to females with diagnosed ADHD is due, at least in part, to lack of recognition and/or referral bias in females. Studies suggest that females with ADHD present with differences in their profile of symptoms, comorbidity and associated functioning compared with males. This consensus aims to provide a better understanding of females with ADHD in order to improve recognition and referral. Comprehensive assessment and appropriate treatment is hoped to enhance longer-term clinical outcomes and patient wellbeing for females with ADHD. Methods The United Kingdom ADHD Partnership hosted a meeting of experts to discuss symptom presentation, triggers for referral, assessment, treatment and multi-agency liaison for females with ADHD across the lifespan. Results A consensus was reached offering practical guidance to support medical and mental health practitioners working with females with ADHD. The potential challenges of working with this patient group were identified, as well as specific barriers that may hinder recognition. These included symptomatic differences, gender biases, comorbidities and the compensatory strategies that may mask or overshadow underlying symptoms of ADHD. Furthermore, we determined the broader needs of these patients and considered how multi-agency liaison may provide the support to meet them. Conclusions This practical approach based upon expert consensus will inform effective identification, treatment and support of girls and women with ADHD. It is important to move away from the prevalent perspective that ADHD is a behavioural disorder and attend to the more subtle and/or internalised presentation that is common in females. It is essential to adopt a lifespan model of care to support the complex transitions experienced by females that occur in parallel to change in clinical presentation and social circumstances. Treatment with pharmacological and psychological interventions is expected to have a positive impact leading to increased productivity, decreased resource utilization and most importantly, improved long-term outcomes for girls and women., The meeting was funded by the UK ADHD Partnership (UKAP), who has been in receipt of unrestricted educational donations from Takeda. Takeda had no influence or involvement in determining the topic and arrangements of the day, the consensus process and outcomes, or writing the final manuscript. Other than reimbursement of travel expenses to attend the meeting, none of the authors received any financial compensation for attending the meeting or writing the manuscript, aside from CS who received funds for medical writing assistance., "Peer Reviewed"

Aims and methodWe hypothesised that, because of stigma associated with mental illness, patients' knowledge of psychotropic medication would be less than that of non-psychotropic medication. We set out to establish the extent of knowledge about these medications using a cross-sectional survey of in-patients over 65 years of age in south London.ResultsOf the study population (n = 86), 42% demonstrated an understanding of the purpose of taking both psychotropic and non-psychotropic medication, 15% understood only their psychotropic medication, 16% understood only their non-psychotropic medication and 27% understood neither medication. A surprising finding was that more than 20% of these patients with cognitive impairment were not able to recount their legal status; this factor was independently related to whether or not they knew the purpose of their psychotropic medication, and also whether or not they knew the purpose of neither type of medication.Clinical implicationsPoor knowledge of medication has been associated with non-adherence and relapse. Older adults are likely to receive multiple medications because of their increased susceptibility to physical and psychiatric disorders with increasing age, so even more emphasis has to be placed on increasing knowledge of medication.

In the context of a project to benchmark anti-dementia drug prescribing practice against standards derived from evidence-based guidelines, the authors sought to estimate the proportion of people with dementia who were receiving treatment with an anti-dementia drug and whether this varied across Primary Care Trust (PCT) populations.They also explored the relative proportion of prescriptions for each anti-dementia drug, and the source of these prescriptions – GPs,Mental HealthTrusts or acuteTrusts. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Interface Ltd