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

Abstract

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.

Analyzing the network of parent‐rated ADHD symptoms before and 2 weeks after the onset of pharmaceutical treatment

“…The common side effects in children following consuming Ritalin led to a decrease in the number of patients in the posttest in comparison to the pretest in this study, suggesting the addition of other efficacious medications to decrease discontinuation rate among Ritalin consumers (Lee et al, 2022). Finally, recent pharmaceutical progress has helped child and adolescent psychiatrists to consider medications with better benefit/risk balance and more promising potentials.…”

“…The symptom of “fidgeting or squirming” has the most expected influence in the pretest network, while the symptom of “difficulty waiting for their turn” is still the most central after 2 weeks of treatment. Some studies have found that 1 month after the first treatment with Ritalin, there was a significant improvement, except in some symptoms (Lee et al, 2022). This result is consistent with this research in terms of remaining symptoms.…”