Video Games Can Detect Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Video games that allow the identification and evaluation of the degree of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents have been developed, using a raccoon as the protagonist, by researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, in its Spanish acronym), published in the journal Brain Sciences. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by abnormal levels of hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. It has an estimated prevalence of 7.2% in children and adolescents. Generally there are no diagnostic tests for ADHD and the diagnosis relies upon patient's medical history, and scaling methods.

Early diagnosis using video games

The researchers proposed user-friendly video game of shorter completion duration – 7 minutes. The rapid test helps in directly identifying the symptoms of ADHD and evaluates its severity in different patients in clinical settings. The game employs a running avatar (raccoon as player) which has to avoid different obstacles (falling into the holes) – 180 holes that are grouped into 18 blocks, in their way.

"We hypothesise that children diagnosed with ADHD inattentive subtype will make more mistakes by omission and will jump closer to the hole as a result of the symptoms of inattention," says Inmaculada Peñuelas Calvo, another author of the study, psychiatrist at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital and professor at the UCM's Department of Personality, Evaluation and Clinical Psychology.

Study was conducted using inattention subscale in the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and normal behavior symptom classification scale (SWAN), in a group of 32 children, between the ages of 8 and 16, diagnosed with ADHD by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit in the Psychiatry Department at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital.

"Each block is identified by the speed of the raccoon, the length of the trunk, and the width of the hole. The length of the trunk and the speed of the avatar determine the time between stimuli, which is about 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 seconds, while the width of the hole determines how difficult it is to jump over," Inmaculada Peñuelas explains.

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The study highlights the importance of the new rapid method that allows for early diagnosis, and thus improves the ADHD patients' treatment strategy, and prognosis.

Source-Medindia