American Academy Of Pediatrics Level 2 Treatment Recommendations For ADHD Do Not Apply to Neurofeedback

There has been much excitement surrounding the recent positive developments for neurofeedback (EEG-biofeedback) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the past week, news circulated that American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorsed neurofeedback for ADHD. Although I too was admittedly excited about this potentially important development for the field of neurofeedback and children with attentional disorders, I found no evidence in AAP’s original announcement that Level 2 (“good evidence”) recommendations applied to neurofeedback and and posted an article to this effect.

In a follow-up investigation, a representative at the PracticeWise Evidence-Based Services (PWEBS) Database service (i.e., provided the research evidence to AAP) stated that the Level 2 recommendations apply only to EMG-biofeedback. Although PWEBS did not provide specific references to BMED Report, they stated that these evidence-based recommendations were established using two controlled studies from the early 1980′s.

Practitioners of neurofeedback will surely be disappointed with this announcement. However, it is vital that other scientists and the general public receive accurate statements about neurofeedback treatment efficacy. Erroneous public claims will only damage the credibility of future genuinely positive research findings.

On a side note, I wonder why PWEBS did not consider more recent studies of EEG-biofeedback for ADHD?

I am very interested to hear what others think about this topic. I encourage health-care practitioners who want to post comments at BMED Report to please contact me to have a quick and free subscriber account set-up.