If you’re like us, then you probably paid attention last week when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave approval for the use of Electroencephalography (EEG) scans as a means of diagnosing ADHD. We’re always interested in knowing about the latest advances in diagnosis, so last week’s announcement was a welcome one.
EEG painlessly measures the brain’s electrical activity and has been used for years in diagnosing epilepsy. More recently, it has been used as part of a battery of tests in diagnosing sleeping disorders.
This new use of EEG hinges on measuring two types of brain waves, theta and beta waves, and calculating the ratio between the prevalence of the two. It has been established that the ratio of these types of waves appears to differ in people with an ADHD diagnosis. Similar to its use in diagnosing sleeping disorders, this new application of EEG is ONE of a multitude of tests and inventories, so we thought it appropriate to briefly comment on what the availability of the new test means (and what it doesn’t).
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What The New Test Means
Diagnosticians now have another quantifiable measure at their disposal that does not depend on self-reporting or observations to assess whether someone might have ADHD. FDA approval means that the test has been shown to be “safe and effective.” To the extent that this means this new measure is objective, this is a good thing. Critics of the existing procedures used to arrive at an ADHD diagnosis often contend that because there is no single measure and because many of the existing measures depend on interpretation and observation, that the diagnosis of ADHD is subject to too high a rate of “false positive” outcomes. Adding a quantifiable test to the battery of existing tests lends a degree of objectivity to the determination of whether someone has ADHD or not.
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What The New Test Does NOT Mean
The addition of the EEG test to the battery of tests used to diagnose ADHD is by no means a guarantee that a “false positive” diagnosis will not happen. Based on the latest reports, there is no “magic ratio” or threshold number in the EEG test that unequivocally diagnoses someone with ADHD. Thus, like its use in the diagnosis of sleep disorders, the results of an EEG test are ONE part of many components that can contribute to an overall diagnosis of whether someone might have ADHD or not. As before, the diagnosis of ADHD must be made by an experienced, qualified professional and is still not an undertaking with a precise numerical outcome or rigid “either/or” criteria. The addition of the new test can help a qualified professional by providing additional information and assist in clarifying those cases that might be deemed “borderline,” but it cannot definitively and on its own serve as the measure of whether someone has ADHD.
Progress is being made toward sharpening the diagnostic tools used to determine whether a diagnosis of ADHD is warranted. We still do not have a simple test that illuminates all the answers and determines whether someone has this trait or not, but we are getting closer to reducing false positives.
