Early and Objective Evaluation of the Therapeutic Effects of ADHD Medication through Movement Analysis Using Video Recording Pixel Subtraction

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-03, Vol.19 (6), p.3163
• Main Authors: Lee, Ying-Han, Ouyang, Chen-Sen, Chiu, Yi-Hung, Chiang, Ching-Tai, Wu, Rong-Ching, Yang, Rei-Cheng, Lin, Lung-Chang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - drug therapy; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Child; Children; Drug administration; Drugs; Evaluation; Female; Humans; Hyperactivity; Impulsive behavior; Impulsivity; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Methylphenidate; Methylphenidate - therapeutic use; Parents; Parents & parenting; Patients; Pediatrics; Pixels; Questionnaires; Substance abuse treatment; Subtraction; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teachers; Video recorders
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19063163

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects approximately 5−7% of school-age children. ADHD is usually marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention or hyperactivity−impulsivity, leading to functioning or developmental problems. A common ADHD assessment tool is the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham (SNAP) questionnaire. However, such scales provide only a subjective perspective, and most of them are used to evaluate therapeutic effects at least 3−12 months after medication initiation. Therefore, we employed an objective assessment method to provide more accurate evaluations of therapeutic effects in 25 children with ADHD (23 boys and 2 girls). To evaluate the participants’ improvement and treatment’s effectiveness, the pixel subtraction technique was used in video analysis. We compared the efficacy of 1-month Ritalin or Concerta treatment by evaluating the movement in each video within 3 h of medication administration. The movement value was defined as the result of a calculation when using the pixel subtraction technique. Based on behavior observation and SNAP scores, both parent- and teacher-reported scores decreased after 1 month of medication (reduction rates: 19.61% and 16.38%, respectively). Specifically, the parent-reported hyperactivity subscale and teacher-reported oppositional subscale decreased more significantly. By contrast, the reduction rate was 39.27%, as evaluated using the average movement value (AMV). Considering symptomatic improvement as a >25% reduction in scores, the result revealed that the AMV decreased in 18 patients (72%) compared with only 44% and 56% of patients based on parent- and teacher-reported hyperactivity subscale scores. In conclusion, the pixel subtraction method can serve as an objective and reliable evaluation of the therapeutic effects of ADHD medication in the early stage.