Literature Search Methods

A limited literature search was conducted on key resources including Medline, The Cochrane Library, University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) databases, Canadian and major international health technology agencies, as well as a focused Internet search. Methodological filters were applied to limit retrieval to guidelines. Where possible, retrieval was limited to the human population. The search was also limited to English language documents published between January 1, 2011 and February 18, 2016.

Rapid Response reports are organized so that the evidence for each research question is presented separately.

Selection Criteria and Methods

One reviewer screened citations and selected studies. In the first level of screening, titles and abstracts were reviewed and potentially relevant articles were retrieved and assessed for inclusion. The final selection of full-text articles was based on the inclusion criteria presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Selection Criteria.

Exclusion Criteria

Articles were excluded if they did not meet the selection criteria outlined in Table 1, they were duplicate publications, or were published prior to January, 2011. The Third edition of the Canadian ADHD Practice (CAP) guidelines,³ produced by the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA) was not included since it, has previously been reviewed by CADTH⁹ and does not warrant a full assessment in this report.

Critical Appraisal of Individual Studies

The guidelines were assessed with the AGREE II instrument,¹⁰ and the strengths and limitations of each included guideline were described narratively.