Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercises on the Autistic Children

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder manifesting stereotypic behaviors and problem in communication and social interaction. Different physical therapy interventions like aerobics help to improve recurrent behaviors and task performance of autistic children. This study was focused to see the effect of jogging on the stereotypic behaviors and task performance of autistic children. A single blinded randomized study was conducted on 38 autistic children, randomly allocated to two groups, performing jogging and ball exercises. Repetitive Behavior Scale-revised(RBS-R) and Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT) was used for assessment. Exercise was performed for 3 weeks and 4 sessions per week.

Official Title
-----------------
Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercises on the Stereotypic Behaviors and Task Performance of Autistic Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Conditions
-----------------
Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Procedure: Aerobic Exercise
* Procedure: Ball Exercises


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: Diagnosed children of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by experts Have recognized stereotypic behaviors Age 6 to 20 years Independent to walk Both genders Parent and teachers willing to give consent Exclusion Criteria: Unable to understand commands Have co-morbidities like schizophrenia or ADHD Having respiratory or cardiovascular problems Severe ASD Lower limb injury and disability

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 6 Years
Maximum Age: 20 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
No

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Experimental Group<br> | Procedure: Aerobic Exercise<br>* Jogging was performed for 20 minutes. Jogging was performed by experimental group for 3 weeks and 4 sessions per week.<br>Procedure: Ball Exercises<br>* Ball exercises like stability ball roll, stability ball hug, stability ball catching, ball throwing and ball tapping exercises were for 10 minutes. Ball exercises was performed by both groups for 3 weeks and 4 times per week .<br>|
| Active Comparator: Active control Group<br> | Procedure: Ball Exercises<br>* Ball exercises like stability ball roll, stability ball hug, stability ball catching, ball throwing and ball tapping exercises were for 10 minutes. Ball exercises was performed by both groups for 3 weeks and 4 times per week .<br>|

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Repetitive behavior scale revised (RBS-R) | RBS-R was used to assess the stereotypic behaviors of autistic children. It is 43 items questionnaire that is placed under six subscales. The sub-scales are Stereotyped Behavior Subscale Self-Injurious Behavior Subscale Compulsive Behavior Subscale Ritualistic Behavior Subscale Sameness Behavior Subscale Restricted Behavior Subscale Each subscale has different characteristics, which are classified from 0 to 3 (behavior is severe). Moreover, each behavior is also rated that how much this behavior occurs, cause interruption in activity and how much a child become agitated when he was interrupted. Global score rating was used by calculating the scores of all the six subscales and total score was given in range of 1 to 100. | 3 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT) | JHFT was used to evaluate the task performance of autistic children.JHFT has seven variants and time was recorded, in seconds, taken by children to complete these seven tasks. These seven tasks are writing, card turning, small common objects, simulated feeding, stacking, lifting large lightweight objects and lifting large heavy objects. These piece of work was first performed by the non-dominant hand then by the dominant hand and at the end time required during all the task was summed up in minutes | 3 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
ASD, Autism spectrum disorder, Physical therapy, Stereotypic behaviors, Repetitive behaviors, Aerobic exercises, Jogging, Ball exercises.