Background: The most common emotional and behavioural referral to the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) in Ireland is for an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and/or intervention. Approximately 60% of all children actively attending CAMHS are receiving ADHD related care. The assessment of a child with suspected ADHD includs a clinical interview, school and family collateral and psychometric questionnaires. This assessment may take approximately 12 clinical hours. A continuous performance task (CPT) with a motion-tracking system called QbTest is designed to aid this diagnostic pathway by both accuracy, prediction and improve time from assessment to diagnosis.
Aims and objectives: The aim of this project is to assess the structure and diagnostic accuracy of the QbTest in a new neurodevelopmental ADHD pathway for children and adolescents in Ireland. The objectives are to; (a) investigate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the QbTest and final clinical diagnosis of ADHD; and (b) the time saved, and cost-analysis of using the QbTest in a new neurodevelopmental ADHD pathway.
Methods: To complete a retrospective analysis of existing data of 120 children and adolescents (convenience sample) that attended a new neurodevelopmental ADHD pathway in CAMHS in Ireland. To extract all data from QbTest results into a pre-formatted excel. To merge QbTest data with outcome data (age, gender, socioeconomic status, education, co-morbidities, medication, diagnosis) already collected in SNAP and to complete analysis in Stata software. To perform statistical analysis to assess the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of QbTest in diagnosing ADHD in children and adolescents.
Expected outcome: The use of the QbTest may not influence clinical decision making, albeit will be a tool to use to aid the assessment process and provide a cost saving in reducing the time from initial assessment to diagnosis.