JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Remote Measurement Technology (RMT) has the potential to address current research and clinical challenges of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and its co-occurring mental health problems. Despite research using RMT already being successfully applied to other populations, adherence and attrition are potential obstacles when applying RMT to a disorder such as ADHD. Hypothetical views and attitudes towards RMT in an ADHD population have previously been explored; however, to our knowledge, there is no previous research that has used qualitative methods to understand the barriers and facilitators to using RMT in individuals with ADHD, following participation in a remote monitoring period.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the barriers to and facilitators of RMT in individuals with ADHD, compared to a group of people who did not have a diagnosis of ADHD. We also aimed to explore participants’ views on using RMT for one or two years in future studies.

Methods:

Twenty individuals with ADHD and twenty people without ADHD were followed up for 10 weeks using RMT that involved active (questionnaires, cognitive tasks) and passive (smartphone sensors, wearable device) monitoring. Ten adults and adolescents with ADHD and twelve in a comparison group completed semi-structured qualitative interviews at the end of the study period. The interviews focussed on potential barriers to and facilitators of using RMT in adults with ADHD. A framework methodology was utilised for qualitatively exploring the data.

Results:

Barriers to and facilitators of using RMT were categorised as health-related, user-related and technology-related factors across both participant groups. A total of 60 subthemes emerged. Hypothetical views on future studies using RMT in adults with ADHD for one or two years were positive. When comparing themes that emerged across the participant groups, both individuals with and without ADHD experienced similar barriers and facilitators to using RMT. However, slight differences between the participant groups were identified across all four categories.

Conclusions:

People with ADHD agreed that RMT can provide useful objective data which uses repeated measurements with ongoing active and passive monitoring. Although themes overlapped with previous research on barriers and facilitators of engagement to RMT (e.g., depression, epilepsy) and with a comparison group, there are unique considerations for people with ADHD. Researchers need to continue to work with people with ADHD to develop future RMT studies for longer periods of time.