A Virtual Reality Serious Videogame Versus Online Chess Augmentation in Patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity...

Serious videogames and virtual reality (VR) have gained increasing interest for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "The Secret Trail of Moon" (TSTM) study is a clinical trial devoted to testing the efficacy of TSTM, a VR serious videogame developed to train in five major cognitive skills usually compromised in patients with ADHD. This study is a three-arm nonequality trial comparing TSTM to online chess training and a control group (CG). This study aims to demonstrate that augmentation with either TSTM or online chess is efficacious in clinically drug-stable patients with ADHD. This study is prospective, unicentric, and randomized with a CG. One hundred five patients with ADHD, ages 12-22 years old, and pharmacologically stable were enrolled. Patients were randomized into three groups: TSTM group, online chess group (therapeutic chess [TC]), and CG. Objective and subjective measures of the patient and parents are included. Patient visits differ for each group. TSTM group patients have 15 face-to-face visits: preinclusion visit, inclusion visit, 12 training visits, and final visit. TC and CG patients have 3 face-to-face visits (preinclusion, initial visit, and final visit) and 12 e-mail or phone communications during training (TC) or follow-up (CG group). This study was approved by the local Institutional Review Board (IRB). Not applicable. This is a study protocol. This is the first study testing an augmentation strategy using either a serious videogame or chess in clinically drug-treated patients with ADHD. Using VR serious videogames present with several advantages over traditional videogames. Trial Registration: NCT04355065.