Three studies evaluated the association of stimulant medication treatment and a lifetime history of nonspecific drug use (defined as a positive endorsement of any illicit drug; used when specific studies did not provide outcome by substance type). The ORs ranged from 1.08 to 1.52. The random-effects model for all studies estimated that children with ADHD who received stimulant medication were similar to children who did not receive stimulant medication in the likelihood of ever having used a nonspecific drug (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.88−1.82; P =.52). No significant heterogeneity was detected across the 3 studies (Q = 0.39, P =.82).
