Is neurofeedback effective in children with ADHD? A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the evidences related to the effectiveness of neurofeedback treatment for children and adolescent with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) based on the most-proximal raters. A systematic review of randomized control trials (RCTs) was carried out across multiple databases. the primary outcome measure was the most proximal ratings of ADHD symptoms in subjects. Conner’s Parent Rating Scale (CPRS), Conner’s Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS), and ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS- are considered as primary outcomes. Seventeen trials met inclusion criteria (including 1211 patients). Analysis showed that there was no significant benefit of neurofeedback treatment compared with other treatments or control conditions [weighted mean difference/CI = HI-P: −0.02 (−0.26, 0.21), HI-T: 0.01 (−0.46, 0.48), weighted mean difference/CI = I-P: 0.00 (−0.23, 0.23), I-P: 0.12 (−0.14, 0.38)]. The results provide preliminary evidence that neurofeedback treatment is no efficacious clinical method for ADHD and suggest that more RTCs are needed to compare common treatment .

KEYWORDS:

• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
• neurofeedback
• EEG biofeedback
• slow cortical potentials
• meta-analysis

Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Compliance with ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.