SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
QbTest for Monitoring Medication Treatment Response in ADHD: A Systematic Review
Urban Gustafsson1, *, Mikkel Hansen1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2023Volume: 19
E-location ID: e17450179276630
Publisher ID: e17450179276630
DOI: 10.2174/0117450179276630231030093814
Article History:
Received Date: 23/08/2023Revision Received Date: 27/09/2023
Acceptance Date: 10/10/2023
Electronic publication date: 03/11/2023
Collection year: 2023

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction:
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and adolescence. Pharmacological treatment plays an important part in the therapy of the disorder and verifying the effectiveness of ADHD medication is essential throughout the course of treatment. QbTest is a computerized test, for which intended use is to provide healthcare professionals with objective measurements of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention to aid in the clinical assessment of ADHD and the evaluation of treatment interventions.
Methods:
A systematic review of relevant articles was conducted for which QbTest was used for monitoring medication treatment response in ADHD. Literature published between 2004 and 2023 was appraised.
Results:
A total of 15 studies were included in the review. Thirteen articles involved subjects diagnosed with ADHD and two studies that were related to the disorder, which evaluated QbTest in medication treatment response. Changes in QbTest data such as Q-scores, effect size, or improvement/deterioration of QbTest variables were evaluated. A clinically relevant decrease in QbTest Q-scores was found in the majority of the studies when treated with any type of ADHD medication in therapeutic doses, both in comparison to placebo and when compared from baseline to endpoint treatment.
Conclusion:
QbTest can distinguish pharmacological treatment effects within hours of pharmacological titration and can be used for monitoring of long-term treatment of ADHD. A need for optimization and individualization of medication treatment response could be addressed with access to objective measures in ADHD management.