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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Oct 14;55(10):685.
doi: 10.3390/medicina55100685.

Effects of Physical Exercise on the Stereotyped Behavior of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

José Pedro Ferreira  1 , Thaysa Ghiarone  2 , Cyro Rego Cabral Júnior  3 , Guilherme Eustáquio Furtado  4 , Humberto Moreira Carvalho  5 , Aristides Machado Rodrigues  6 , Chrystiane Vasconcelos Andrade Toscano  4   7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Effects of Physical Exercise on the Stereotyped Behavior of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

José Pedro Ferreira et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Recent studies have shown the existence of a positive relationship between physical exercise, symptomatic improvement, and reduction of damage caused by comorbidities associated with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in children, adolescents, and adults. The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis (SRM) was to estimate the effects of physical exercise (PE) on the stereotyped behaviors of children with a diagnosis of ASD in intervention studies. Materials and Methods: The design followed the PRISMA guidelines and the TREND statement to assess the quality of information in each study. Nine non-randomized intervention trial studies with low, moderate, and vigorous physical exercise, with a duration varying from 8 to 48 weeks and a frequency of 3 times a week, were included in the SRM. The dependent variable episodes of stereotypical behaviors was analyzed in all studies and assessed as the number of episodes demonstrated by the child in pre- versus post-exercise intervention conditions. Results: The eight studies included a total 129 children (115 males and 14 females) with an average age of 8.93 ± 1.69 years. Children with ASD showed a reduction of 1.1 in the number of occurrences of stereotypical behaviors after intervention with physical exercise. Conclusion: Evidence was found to support physical exercise as an effective tool in reducing the number of episodes of stereotypical behaviors in children diagnosed with ASD.

Keywords: autism; intervention; meta-analysis; physical exercise; stereotypes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scheme of information about the different phases of systematic search through the positioning PRISMA guidelines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of descriptive and inferential statistics between groups before and after intervention with physical exercise.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Exercise and occurrence of stereotypic behavior in children with ASD – Funnel plot of standard error by std diff in means.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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