The studies examined suggest moderate evidence about the effectiveness of  VR-based treatments in ASD .
VR can add many advantages to the treatment of ASD symptomatology , but it is necessary to develop consistent validations in future studies to state that VR can effectively complement the traditional treatments
Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD ) is a neurodevelopmental disease that is specially characterized by impairments in social communication and social skills .
ASD has a high prevalence in children , affecting 1 in 160 subjects .
Virtual reality ( VR ) has emerged as an effective tool for intervention in the health field .
Different recent papers have review ed the VR-based treatments in ASD , but they have an important limitation because they only use clinical data bases and do not include important technical indexes such as the Web of Science index or the Scimago Journal & Country Rank .
To our knowledge , this is the first contribution that has carried out an evidence -based systematic review including both clinical and technical data bases about the effectiveness of VR-based intervention in ASD .
Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality in Surgical Training-A Randomized Control Trial.
PURPOSE Surgical training methods are evolving with the technological advancements , including the application of virtual reality ( VR ) and augmented reality . However , 28 to 40 % of novice residents are not confident in performing a major surgical procedure . VR surgery , an immersive VR ( iVR ) experience , was developed using Oculus Rift and Leap Motion devices ( Leap Motion , Inc , San Francisco , CA ) to address this challenge . Our iVR is a multisensory , holistic surgical training application that demonstrates a maxillofacial surgical technique , the Le Fort I osteotomy . The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of using VR surgery on the self-confidence and knowledge of surgical residents . MATERIAL S AND METHODS A multisite , single-blind , parallel , r and omized controlled trial ( RCT ) was performed . The participants were novice surgical residents with limited experience in performing the Le Fort I osteotomy . The primary outcome measures were the self- assessment scores of trainee confidence using a Likert scale and an objective assessment of the cognitive skills .  Ninety-five residents from 7 dental schools were included in the RCT . The participants were r and omly divided into a study group of 51 residents and a control group of 44 . Participants in the study group used the VR surgery application on an Oculus Rift with Leap Motion device . The control group participants used similar content in a st and ard PowerPoint presentation on a laptop . Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance was applied to the data to assess the overall effect of the intervention on the confidence of the residents . RESULTS The study group participants showed significantly greater perceived self-confidence levels compared with those in the control group ( P = .034 ; α = 0.05 ) . Novices in the first year of their training showed the greatest improvement in their confidence compared with those in their second and third year . CONCLUSIONS iVR experiences improve the knowledge and self-confidence of the surgical residents
The studies examined suggest moderate evidence about the effectiveness of  VR-based treatments in ASD .
VR can add many advantages to the treatment of ASD symptomatology , but it is necessary to develop consistent validations in future studies to state that VR can effectively complement the traditional treatments
Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD ) is a neurodevelopmental disease that is specially characterized by impairments in social communication and social skills .
ASD has a high prevalence in children , affecting 1 in 160 subjects .
Virtual reality ( VR ) has emerged as an effective tool for intervention in the health field .
Different recent papers have review ed the VR-based treatments in ASD , but they have an important limitation because they only use clinical data bases and do not include important technical indexes such as the Web of Science index or the Scimago Journal & Country Rank .
To our knowledge , this is the first contribution that has carried out an evidence -based systematic review including both clinical and technical data bases about the effectiveness of VR-based intervention in ASD .