SOFIA Study Published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology

In a recent study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, we were able to share the results of our SOFIA protocol used for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). SOFIA was created for children with ADHD to deliver reminders and educational messages in order to improve adherence and management of ADHD.  

ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder that impacts approximately 11% of children in the United States and is reported to lead to several poor outcomes. Management of ADHD has many important challenges. Among them is adherence to medication.  By nature of the illness, those afflicted are forgetful and do not follow through, increasing the risk for non-adherence to their medication regimen. Stimulant medications are scheduled medicines requiring monthly renewals, additionally contributing to poor adherence rates.  Significant stigma, biases and prejudices about ADHD represent additional factors that affect medication adherence and disorder management. 

In this study 87 school aged children ages 6-12 prescribed stimulant medication were recruited for the study. The results of this study demonstrated that 85% of SMS intervention patients filled their prescriptions as needed, compared to only 62% in the control group. These preliminary findings support the potential utility of a readily accessible technology to improve the poor rate of adherence to stimulant treatment in children with ADHD.