Editor's response:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Psychiatric News looked into the advertisement after receiving your correspondence and declined to run it again, believing that the statement in the advertisement misstated the findings of the study.

The percentage of adult men with child-hood ADHD had to be calculated from data in Table 1 of the study.

The advertisement stated, “ADHD was diagnosed in 1 out of 5 men with depression.” However, the cited study found that only 4 of the 51 male subjects (7.8 percent) with adult major depressive disorder met the eight or more DSM-III-R criteria required for a diagnosis of childhood ADHD. The study also considered a category described as “broad ADHD,” which encompassed individuals with five or more DSM-III-R criteria. This latter category combined individuals who met full or partial (subthreshold) criteria for ADHD and was composed of 11 of the 51 male subjects (21.6 percent). To represent the findings of the study adequately, the statement in the advertisement should have said that 1 in 5 men with depression met full or partial (subthreshold) criteria for childhood ADHD.

Psychiatric News contacted Shire, and a representative ultimately offered the following response:

“Shire believes that the numbers cited in the advertisement are correct based on the Alpert, et al., reference and are representative of the authors' position, and Shire stands behind the interpretation of the data from the referenced study. Shire is committed to ensuring the highest level of integrity and ethical standards in everything we do, including the interpretation of data and the development of advertising.”