mHealth Tools Show Promise in Helping to Treat Children With ADHD

A Duke University study has found that a digital therapeutic platform using video gaming techniques helped improve attention spans in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), further adding to the argument that mHealth and telehealth can aid in care management for these children at home.

A study undertaken in 2016-17 of some 350 children 8-12 years old found significant improvement in attention scores among those who used the digital platform designed by Boston-based Akili Interactive Labs, which funded the project. There were no differences in symptom ratings between those using mHealth and a control group, and no serious side effects or adverse reactions were reported.

"Our trial is one of only a few randomized controlled investigations into digital interventions for children with ADHD,” corresponding author Scott H. Kollins, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center, said in the study, which appears in this month’s issue of The Lancet Digital Health. “The improvement observed in attentional functioning in patients who received the active intervention was meaningful, although the full clinical meaningfulness of the findings should be explored in further studies." 

Kollins, who conducted the study with colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Cincinnati College of Medicine, Meridien Research & Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and SUNY Upstate Medical University, notes in the study that connected health platforms hold promise for improved care management for children with ADHD because they can be used in the home setting and they can replace medications, which can be expensive and ineffective.

These types of platforms can also benefit underserved families who can’t easily access care, either because it’s too expensive or involves a lot of time, effort and travel.

He and his colleagues note that the study doesn’t prove that an mHealth platform can replace traditional care for children with ADHD, but could be added to the treatment protocol. It would particularly benefit children and their caregivers who haven’t seen much success with other forms of treatment.

“The digital nature of the intervention could help to increase access for populations who might not otherwise be able to find non-pharmacological interventions,” they noted.

The research falls in line with a similar study published a year ago by researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). That study, which made use of a digital therapeutic platform called Project EVO – also developed by Akili Interctive – found that mHealth interventions not only improved outcomes for the children, but helped their parents as well.

“Our study showed that children engaged with the Project: EVO treatment for the recommended amount of time, and that parents and children reported high rates of satisfaction with the treatment,” Benjamin Yerys, PhD, a child psychologist at CHOP’s Center for Autism Research and the study’s lead author, said in a press release. “Based on the promising study results, we look forward to continuing to evaluate the potential for Project: EVO as a new treatment option for children with ASD and ADHD.”