Having developed a video game showcasing a cartoon animal exercising could be useful for identifying and evaluating the severity of attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) in children, a new study suggests.
The results appeared in Brain Sciences.
At the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), researchers recruited children to take part in a series of experiments, assessing their severity of ADHD symptoms.
ADHD is a common condition affecting more than 7 percent of children and can be characterized by a pattern of hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors.
About 30 children were included in the study, all of which were between the ages of 8 and 16. All had a clinical diagnosis of ADHD at the start of the study.
The participants took part in a video game involving an animal jumping to avoid gaps on the ground.
From the findings: “In the last few years, several computerized tasks have been developed to increase the objectivity of the diagnosis of ADHD.”
“Experimental results showed a significant correlation between the participants’ inattention (measured by the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Normal Behavior rating scale (SWAN) inattention subscale) with each of these three measures. In addition to its accuracy, other benefits are its short duration and the possibility of being run on both standard computers and mobile devices. The obtained results, together with the characteristics of the video game, make it an excellent tool to support clinicians in the diagnosis of ADHD,” the study concluded
