FDA Cleared Biomarker Can Help Reduce Overdiagnosis of ADHD

NEBA Health announced validation results for the first FDA-cleared biomarker that can assist in reducing overdiagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the Augusta, Ga, firm said. The brainwave-based test, NEBA, takes 15 to 20 minutes to perform.

The results, published in the journal Brain and Behavior, showed the tests’ ability to limit overdiagnosis by helping distinguish between children with ADHD-like symptoms and symptoms caused by other conditions, NEBA Health said.

Steven Snyder, head of research at the Boulder, Colo., firm, said that ADHD may be overdiagnosed in the clinic as much as one third of the time. “NEBA separately identified most of those cases,” he added.

“Because underdiagnosis can lead to poor future outcomes in children with ADHD, a lot of effort has gone into developing assessment tests that are sensitive in detecting ADHD-like symptoms,” Snyder continued. The NEBA test can complement existing tests by helping clinicians rule out ADHD, he said. — Kellen Owings