Improving ADHD Behavioral Care Quality in Community-Based Pediatric Settings | Digital Healthcare Research
Improving ADHD Behavioral Care Quality in Community-Based Pediatric Settings
Epstein, Jeff N.
Nearly 9 percent of children have a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with 11 percent of children ages 4 to 17 years having been given the diagnosis at some point in their lives. Optimal treatment combines pharmacological and behavioral treatment. The former primarily improves symptoms, such as improved attention and reduced hyperactivity; the latter improves impairments, such as academic underachievement, impaired social relationships, and disrupted family functioning. Combining these two treatment modalities has been shown to be the most effective treatment and is universally recommended. However, because pediatricians and not mental health professionals treat the vast majority of children, rates of behavioral treatment are low.
This project will enhance an existing Web-based portal, myADHDportal.com, to integrate behavioral tools alongside existing medication management tools. It will develop and test the enhancements to improve access to behavioral treatment strategies that will ultimately improve outcomes for children with ADHD.
Design, build, and integrate behavioral tools into the myADHDportal.com software
Assess the acceptability of the integrated behavioral tools
Test whether integration of the behavioral tools into the myADHDportal.com software increases access to and rates of behavioral treatment, facilitates better integrity of behavioral interventions when implemented, improves functional impairment in children with ADHD, and generates higher satisfaction with ADHD care
The project team will design, build, and integrate behavioral tools into the myADHDportal.com software and then assess the acceptability of the software through usability testing and focus groups. Once the tools are finalized, a randomized controlled trial will be conducted with pediatricians across the Nation who are currently using the existing myADHDprotal.com with their patients. These physicians will be randomly assigned to either continued use of the existing portal or be given access to the enhanced portal with behavioral tools. Researchers will collect information about ADHD care, patient outcomes, such as functional impairment, and consumer satisfaction with ADHD care at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months, using phone interviews. The team will then compare pediatrician-delivered ADHD care, patient outcomes, and consumer satisfaction across the intervention and control groups.
Improving ADHD Behavioral Care Quality in Community-Based Pediatric Settings - Final Report
Citation: Epstein J. Improving ADHD Behavioral Care Quality in Community-Based Pediatric Settings - Final Report. (Prepared by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center under Grant No. R18 HS024690). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2021.
Principal Investigator: Epstein, Jeff N.
Project Name: Improving ADHD Behavioral Care Quality in Community-Based Pediatric Settings
Research Method: Focus Group, Interview, Mixed Methods, Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT), Usability Assessment
Population: Children, Patient, Physician, Stakeholder