Objective Evaluation of Therapeutic Effects of ADHD Medication by Analyzing Movements Using a Smart Chair with Piezoelectric Material

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neuropsychiatric disorder in schoolchildren. Several methods are available to evaluate ADHD therapeutic effects, including the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham (SNAP) questionnaire, the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale, and the visual analog scale. However, these scales are subjective. In this study, a piezoelectric material was applied to a medical chair to objectively evaluate the therapeutic effect of ADHD medication before and after treatment. A total of 22 patients (18 boys and 4 girls) with ADHD were enrolled. During the appointment, the patients’ movements were recorded by the piezoelectric material before being analyzed. The variance, zero-crossing rate, and high energy rate of movements were used to analyze the signal in this study. The results showed the variance, zero-crossing rate, and high energy rate in patients with ADHD all decreased significantly after 1 month of methylphenidate use. Although the hyperactivity subscales of SNAP obtained from parents and teachers demonstrated significant decreases after 1 month of medication, the reduction rate of the three aforementioned measurements decreased more than hyperactivity subscales. This suggests that the use of a smart chair equipped with a piezoelectric material is an objective and useful method for evaluating the therapeutic effects of ADHD medication.