Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:868-870
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Caffeine versus methylphenidate and d-amphetamine in minimal brain dysfunction: a double-blind comparison
RD Huestis, LE Arnold and DJ Smeltzer
The authors compared the efficacy of caffeine, methylphenidate, and d-
amphetamine in children with minimal brain dysfunction using a double-
blind crossover design. The slight improvement with caffeine was not
significantly better than placebo. Both prescription drugs resulted in
significant improvement and were significantly superior to caffeine. The
authors suggest that the discrepancy between these results and an earlier,
more optimistic report mat stem from the use in this study of pure caffeine
rather than whole coffee.
