Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29445867›Full record

SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2019

Sustained effects of neurofeedback in ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Jessica Van Doren, Martijn Arns, Hartmut Heinrich, Madelon A Vollebregt, Ute Strehl, Sandra K Loo

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07149974 (Developing an EEG-fNIRS Neurofeedback Application for Brain Training for Autistic Children), which is not on this map. Cited by 122 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
122citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07149974 naenrolling by invitationnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Developing an EEG-fNIRS Neurofeedback Application for Brain Training for Autistic Children

TypeinterventionalSponsorEducation University of Hong KongRan2025 to 2026Enrolled30ConditionsAutism, Autistic Disorders Spectrum, Neurofeedback, EEGArmsEEG and fNIRS, EEG, fNIRS
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

122 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jessica Van DorenDepartment of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9042-8948
Martijn ArnsDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. martijn@brainclinics.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0610-7613
Hartmut HeinrichDepartment of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8156-489X
Madelon A VollebregtResearch Institute Brainclinics, Bijleveldsingel 34, 6524 AD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Ute StrehlInstitute for Medical Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
Sandra K LooDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9108-0565

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neurofeedback (NF) has gained increasing interest in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Given learning principles underlie NF, lasting clinical treatment effects may be expected. This systematic review and meta-analysis addresses the sustainability of neurofeedback and control treatment effects by considering randomized controlled studies that conducted follow-up (FU; 2-12 months) assessments among children with ADHD. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched through November 2017. Within-group and between-group standardized mean differences (SMD) of parent behavior ratings were calculated and analyzed. Ten studies met inclusion criteria (NF: ten studies, N = 256; control: nine studies, N = 250). Within-group NF effects on inattention were of medium effect size (ES) (SMD = 0.64) at post-treatment and increased to a large ES (SMD = 0.80) at FU. Regarding hyperactivity/impulsivity, NF ES were medium at post-treatment (SMD = 0.50) and FU (SMD = 0.61). Non-active control conditions yielded a small significant ES on inattention at post-treatment (SMD = 0.28) but no significant ES at FU. Active treatments (mainly methylphenidate), had large ES for inattention (post: SMD = 1.08; FU: SMD = 1.06) and medium ES for hyperactivity/impulsivity (post: SMD = 0.74; FU: SMD = 0.67). Between-group analyses also revealed an advantage of NF over non-active controls [inattention (post: SMD = 0.38; FU: SMD = 0.57); hyperactivity-impulsivity (post: SMD = 0.25; FU: SMD = 0.39)], and favored active controls for inattention only at pre-post (SMD = - 0.44). Compared to non-active control treatments, NF appears to have more durable treatment effects, for at least 6 months following treatment. More studies are needed for a properly powered comparison of follow-up effects between NF and active treatments and to further control for non-specific effects.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityChildFemaleHumansMaleNeurofeedbackADHDEEG biofeedbackFollow-upMeta-analysisNeurofeedbackSustainability

Identifiers

PMID29445867
PMCPMC6404655

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.