Effect of Aquatic Training on Motor Function in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

NCT05123066 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: AQUATIC TRAINING
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Clinically, infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder often display gross motor delays in supine, prone, and sitting skills in their first year of life . Studies reveal that motor abnormalities in Autism Spectrum Disorder can occur very early in developmental trajectory.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Keywords

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Aquatic Therapy; Motor development; Land Exercises

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Autism Index

  Gilliam autism rating scale: Items on the developmental subscale address behaviors and milestones in the first 36 months of life. Items on the first three behavioral subscales are rated on a four point like scale ranging from Never Observed (0) to Frequently Observed (3). After completing it, the examiner calculated the total raw scores then converted into scaled scores and percentile ranks according to the examiner's manual. Higher scaled scores on a subscale represent severe autistic behavior. Finally, the total scaled scores were calculated to measure the autism index according to the examiner's manual. The higher the autism index, the higher the probability the individual has autism and the more severe the autistic behavior

  Treatment for 3 monthes

• Motor Development

  The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition: The gross motor function domain will be assessed in the current study. The gross motor function domains contain four subtests. Reflexes, Stationary ,Locomotion and Object Manipulation . Grading and Scoring of the PDMS-2 The therapist will ask the child to do a specific item and observes how the child is doing the task. Items are scored as 2, 1 or 0. 0 = child cannot or will not attempt an item or the attempt does not indicate that the specific skill is emerging 1. = child's performance shows a clear resemblance to item mastery criteria but does not fully meet the criteria or there are signs of an emerging skill 2. = child performs item according to the criteria specified for mastering the skill

  Treatment for 3 monthes

• Pediatric Quality of life Inventory Scale

  Pediatric Quality of life Inventory Scale: The Arabic version will be used to assess quality of life. It contains questions about child's physical, emotional, social, and school functioning in the past 7 days. Parents/ child self-administered the quality of life after introductory instructions from the administrator. On the quality of life Generic Core Scales, for ease of interpretability, items are 22 reversed scored and linearly transformed to a 0-100 scale, so that higher scores indicate better Health-Related quality of Life. To reverse score, transform the 0-4 scale items to 0-100 as follows: 0-100, 1=75, 2= 50, 3= 25 and 4= 0. Finally, the Scale Score for each dimension and Total Scale Score were calculated

  Treatment for 3 monthes

Study Arms (2)

Aquatic group

EXPERIMENTAL

group I

Other: Aquatic Exercises

Land Exersises group

EXPERIMENTAL

group II

Other: Land Exercises

Interventions

Land Exercises OTHER

All participants were physical therapy intervention according to their level of functional impairment :

Land Exersises group

Aquatic Exercises OTHER

These 3 sets were the following: Set 1: warming up exercise as floating exercise 24 Set 2: Standing education/training Set 3: Walking education/training The exercises will be conducted taking in consideration safety measures as: 1. Each participant will use Noodles to ensure safety. 2. Each participant will train individually to ensure safety and avoid distraction. 3. Each participant will use special swimming suit in case of lack of bowel and/or bladder control.

Aquatic group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 3 Years - 5 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Age ranges from 3 to 5 years.
• Mild to moderate autistic features according to GARS (scores from 60 to 110).

You may not qualify if:

• Significant visual or auditory defects.
• History of cerebral palsy or psychiatric disorder (e.g attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
• Open wound.
• Dermatological diseases

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Cairo University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Eman S Albadry

Giza, Giza Governorate, 12662, Egypt

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Amira M ABD-ELMONEM, PhD

  Department of Physical Therapy for Pediatrics, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University

  STUDY CHAIR

• MAI E ABBASS, PhD

  Department of Physical Therapy for Pediatrics, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• AMR A OTHMAN, PhD

  Pediatrics Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: They will be allocated randomly into two groups of equal numbers, group I (the aquatic training group) and the group II (land exercises).
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assist Prof. physical therapy for pediatric department, faculty of physical therappy

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 5, 2021
• First Posted: November 17, 2021
• Study Start: January 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: August 16, 2023
• Study Completion: October 20, 2023
• Last Updated: December 8, 2025

Record last verified: 2022-12

Locations

EG (1)