Objective evaluation of therapeutic effects of ADHD medication using a smart watch: A pilot study

Abstract

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder in schoolchildren. Several methods are used to evaluate ADHD therapeutic effects, including the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham (SNAP) questionnaire, the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale, and the visual analog scale. However, these scales are subjective. In this study, we employed an objective method to evaluate the aforementioned therapeutic effects. Ten patients (nine boys and one girl) with ADHD were enrolled. An accelerometer was embedded in a smart watch to record the movements of patients with ADHD. The variance values of the accelerometer before and after one month of medication (methylphenidate) use were compared. The results demonstrated that the variance values along the y- and z-axes of the accelerometers significantly decreased after one month of methylphenidate use. Before and after one month of methylphenidate use, the variance values were 4.4227 ± 2.1723 and 2.3214 ± 0.6475 (p = 0.0119) on the y-axis, and 4.0933 ± 1.5720 and 2.4091 ± 0.8141 (p = 0.0140) on the z-axis, respectively. In addition, the correlation was moderate-to-strong between the SNAP hyperactivity subscale and variance along the y-axis. Thus, a smart watch with an accelerometer inside is potentially an objective and useful method for evaluating the therapeutic effects of ADHD medications.