S&m to identify a subgroup of adhd at higher risk for complicating conditions

Abstract

This invention is directed to embodiments of systems and methods to identify a subgroup of ADHD at higher risk for complicating conditions that, for example, may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation, may account for attention and behavior symptoms, and may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from primary diagnosis. In one embodiment, a method for identifying a subgroup of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients at higher risk for complicating conditions is provided. The method can include receiving, from a user or clinician, evaluation data associated with a plurality of patients identified with ADHD as a primary diagnosis; obtaining EEG data for each of the plurality of patients; determining, based at least in part on the EEG data, an indicator of ADHD, wherein the indicator supports a positive or negative ADHD evaluation; correlating the indicator with a user's or clinician's evaluation data; and based at least in part on the correlation, determining at least one subgroup of the plurality of patients, wherein the correlation provides positive support for diagnosis of ADHD or provides support for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with diagnosis of ADHD in at least one patient within the at least one subgroup.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A system for characterizing at least one subgroup of patients with suspected symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the system comprising:
 a data collection module operable to:
 receive, from a user or clinician, evaluation data for ADHD and other conditions associated with a plurality of patients; and 
 obtain EEG data and/or other biological data for each of the plurality of patients; 
   a clinical/diagnostic module operable to:
 based at least in part on the biological data or a combination of biological data and evaluation data, determine an indicator of ADHD, 
 wherein the indicator supports a positive or negative ADHD evaluation; and 
   a subgroup identification module operable to:
 correlate the indicator with the user's or clinician's evaluation data; and 
 based at least in part on the correlation, determine at least one subgroup of the plurality of patients, 
 wherein the correlated indicator provides support for:
 a presence or absence of ADHD; 
 a presence or absence of other conditions that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms; 
 further testing for ADHD; 
 further testing for other conditions that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms; 
 further testing for conditions that may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation; or 
 further testing for conditions that may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from a primary diagnosis in at least one patient of the plurality of patients within the at least one subgroup. 
 
   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein determining at least one subgroup of the plurality of patients comprises determining a first subgroup receiving positive support and a second subgroup receiving a recommendation for further testing. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 ,
 wherein the at least one subgroup comprises a subgroup receiving a recommendation for further testing, and   wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to obtain further clinical data to determine whether one or more complicating conditions are present which could exclude ADHD as the primary diagnosis.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22 ,
 wherein the at least one subgroup comprises a subgroup receiving a recommendation for further testing, and   wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to obtain further clinical data to determine whether one or more conditions are present which could exclude ADHD as the primary diagnosis.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to provide a graded recommendation for patients receiving support for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with diagnosis of ADHD. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to provide a graded recommendation for patients receiving support for further testing. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to provide an indication for presence or absence of at least one of ADHD, a condition that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms, a condition that may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation, or a condition that may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from primary diagnosis in the at least one patient. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to provide an indication for predicting and evaluating a treatment response of at least one of ADHD, a condition that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms, a condition that may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation, or a condition that may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from primary diagnosis in the at least one patient. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the subgroup identification module is capable of receiving a plurality of data sets associated with the at least one patient,   wherein the plurality of data sets comprises EEG or other biological data for the at least one patient collected pre-treatment, and EEG or other biological data for the at least one patient collected post-treatment,   wherein the subgroup identification module is further operable to provide an indication for predicting and evaluating a treatment response of at least one of ADHD, a condition that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms, a condition that may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation, or a condition that may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from primary diagnosis in the at least one patient.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the EEG data comprises at least one theta/beta ratio calculation, or a ratio computed by dividing an average percent power in the theta frequency band by an average percent power in the beta frequency band. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the EEG data or other biological data comprises at least one variable calculation. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the correlated indicator comprises a theta/beta ratio calculation within a predefined range, and   wherein the correlated indicator indicates at least one of (i) positive support for a diagnosis of ADHD, (ii) a suggestion for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with a diagnosis of ADHD, and (iii) a strong recommendation for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with a diagnosis of ADHD in at least one patient within a predefined age range within the at least one subgroup.   
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the correlated indicator comprises a theta/beta ratio calculation within a predefined range, and   wherein the correlated indicator indicates at least one of (i) predicting and evaluating a treatment response of ADHD, and (ii) predicting and evaluating a treatment response of a condition other than ADHD in at least one patient within a predefined age range within the at least one subgroup.   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the correlated indicator comprises a variable calculation within a predefined range, and   wherein the correlated indicator indicates at least one of (i) positive support for a diagnosis of ADHD, (ii) a suggestion for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with a diagnosis of ADHD, and (iii) a strong recommendation for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with a diagnosis of ADHD in at least one patient within a predefined age range within the at least one subgroup.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the correlated indicator comprises a variable calculation within a predefined range, and   wherein the correlated indicator indicates at least one of (i) predicting and evaluating a treatment response of ADHD, and (ii) predicting and evaluating a treatment response of a condition other than ADHD in at least one patient within a predefined age range within the at least one subgroup.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a report module operable to output an indication for at least one patient within the at least one subgroup,   wherein the indication corresponds to whether the correlated indicator provides positive support for a diagnosis of ADHD or provides support for further testing for complicating conditions before proceeding with diagnosis of ADHD in the at least one patient.   
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a report module operable to output an indication for at least one patient within the at least one subgroup,   wherein the indication corresponds to whether the correlated indicator provides positive support for:
 a presence or absence of ADHD; 
 a presence or absence of other conditions that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms; or 
 further testing for ADHD, conditions that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms, conditions that may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation, or conditions that may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from primary diagnosis. 
   
     
     
         38 . A method for evaluating a patient having suspected symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving, into a data collection module of a processor, objective biological data for the patient;   inputting subjective evaluation data of the patient, from a user or clinician, into the data collection module;   processing the objective biological data and the subjective evaluation data together to determine an indicator of a positive or a negative ADHD evaluation; and   outputting a recommendation based on the determined indicator.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the subjective evaluation data comprises clinical assessment information regarding the patient. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the objective biological data comprises EEG information from the patient. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the EEG information includes a theta beta ratio. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the EEG information includes one or more of absolute theta power, absolute beta power, total power, relative theta power, and relative beta power. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising a step of correlating the indicator with information from a plurality of other patients to classify the patient into an ADHD subgroup among the plurality of other patients. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the ADHD subgroup comprises at least one of a subgroup receiving confirmatory support of the subjective evaluation data and a subgroup receiving a recommendation for further testing. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the ADHD subgroup comprises at least one of a subgroup likely to have complicating conditions and a subgroup at a lower risk for conditions of concern to an ADHD evaluation. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the output recommendation comprises a confirmation of an ADHD diagnosis from the subjective evaluation data. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the output recommendation comprises a recommendation for further testing. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the output recommendation comprises a recommendation for treatment. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the recommendation for treatment includes a predictive assessment. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the processor includes a memory, the memory including computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the steps of the method. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein the memory comprises a non-transitory computer-readable medium. 
     
     
         52 . A system for aiding a neuropsychiatric assessment of a patient suspected of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), comprising:
 an EEG recording device;   an EEG data module;   a communication module; and   an analysis subsystem, the analysis subsystem capable of:
 analyzing data collected by the EEG recording device; 
 processing the analyzed data according to a calculation algorithm; and 
 generating a report based on results of the calculation algorithm. 
   
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the calculation algorithm comprises a determination of a ratio of power of the theta band of the data to power of the beta band of the data. 
     
     
         54 . A software product comprising instructions, stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for evaluating a patient having suspected symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), comprising:
 receiving, into a data collection module of the computer, objective biological data for the patient;   inputting subjective evaluation data of the patient, from a user or clinician, into the data collection module;   processing the objective biological data and the subjective evaluation data together to determine an indicator of a positive or a negative ADHD evaluation; and   outputting a recommendation based on the determined indicator.   
     
     
         55 . A software product comprising instructions, stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for evaluating a patient having suspected symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), comprising:
 receiving, from a user or clinician, evaluation data for ADHD and other conditions associated with a plurality of patients; and   obtaining EEG data and/or other biological data for each of the plurality of patients;   determining an indicator of ADHD based at least in part on the biological data or a combination of biological data and evaluation data, the indicator supporting a positive or negative ADHD evaluation;   correlating the indicator with the user's or clinician's evaluation data; and   identifying at least one subgroup of the plurality of patients based at least in part on the correlated indicator,   wherein the correlated indicator provides support for:
 a presence or absence of ADHD; 
 a presence or absence of other conditions that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms; 
 further testing for ADHD; 
 further testing for other conditions that may account for attentional and behavioral symptoms; 
 further testing for conditions that may be of concern to an ADHD evaluation; or 
 further testing for conditions that may lead a clinician to exclusion of ADHD from a primary diagnosis in at least one patient of the plurality of patients within the at least one subgroup.