Efficacy of EPA Enriched Phosphatidylserine-Omega-3 (Vayarin) on Children with ADHD (P7.336)
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine if Vayarin is a plausible treatment for long-term ADHD management. BACKGROUND: The FDA approved medical food, Vayarin, is a phosphatidylserine-omega-3 that is EPA enriched and is intended to reduce ADHD symptoms. ADHD patient families are motivated to try non-stimulant medication therapy that might benefit the condition. Vayarin retails for $60 per month and lacks insurance coverage. Most families front the cost of treatment. DESIGN/METHODS: Texas Child Neurology's electronic health records (EHR) retrospectively identified 722 unique patients diagnosed with ADHD who had been prescribed Vayarin therapy for a potential of at least 3 months. Successful therapy was defined as continued treatment beyond 3 months and patient data was stratified into result groups based upon this premise. Information from chart review and telephone interview of parents garnered reasons for results of treatment. Quantification of therapy effect was based upon gathered information. RESULTS: Of the 722 unique patients, 300 patients met criteria for 3 months therapy. Co-treatment with stimulant medication occurred in 43.3%. Two-hundred forty-five (81.7%) continued Vayarin therapy beyond 3 months. Of these, 31.3% were definite beneficiaries of Vayarin. Another 29.7% reported some benefit. The remaining 20.7% reported no benefit but continued Vayarin regardless. A significant portion of the patient sample failed to use Vayarin for the required 3 months. Two-hundred and seven of the sample (28.7%) were lost to follow-up. Another 12.9% never filled the prescription. One-hundred twenty-two (16.9%) of the sample have incomplete information. Many of these are known to have quit Vayarin therapy prior to 3 months treatment (40.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Vayarin is a novel therapy for ADHD that appears to be effective. Approximately 60% of the users who completed 3 months therapy reported benefit of treatment. A slow response time of 3 months is an impediment to successful management as only 41.6% of subjects prescribed Vayarin remained compliant for the duration. Cost and patient objection to Vayarin taste are prominent reasons for therapy failure.
Disclosure: Dr. Nguyen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Nguyen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chudnow has received personal compensation for activities with Vaya Pharma as a speaker. Dr. Miller has nothing to disclose. Dr. Riela has received personal compensation for activities with Vaya Pharma as a speaker. Dr. So has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mireles has nothing to disclose. Dr. Shah has nothing to disclose.
Thursday, May 1 2014, 3:00 pm-6:30 pm
- Copyright © 2014 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
If you are uploading a letter concerning an article:
You must have updated your disclosures within six months: http://submit.neurology.org
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Related Articles
- No related articles found.