Xin Shen, Peiying Huang, Qian Liu, Yin Guo, Lan Zheng
{"title":"Telehealth based parental support over 6 months improves physical activity and sleep quality in children with autism: a randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Xin Shen, Peiying Huang, Qian Liu, Yin Guo, Lan Zheng","doi":"10.3389/fped.2024.1496827","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Sleep disturbances are prevalent in autistic children. The emergence of telehealth offers new possibilities for remote professional intervention. By combining telehealth with parental support, this study aims to explore a novel family-based model to enhance moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and improve sleep quality in children with autism.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty-four autistic children (mean age = 15.7 years) were randomly assigned to either a 6-month intervention group or a control group. Both groups received standard physical education classes at school. The intervention group received additional after-school telehealth support. MVPA and sleep quality were assessed 1 week before the intervention and at the 6-month follow-up.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After 6 months, children in the intervention group nearly doubled their daily MVPA compared to the control group (Cohen's <i>d</i> = 8.34, CI<sub>95%</sub> = 6.17-10.52). Actigraphy-assessed sleep efficiency was notably higher (<i>d</i> = 2.35, CI<sub>95%</sub> = 1.44-3.26), and there were reductions in wake time (<i>d</i> = 1.65, CI<sub>95%</sub> = 0.84-2.46), sleep fragmentation (<i>d</i> = 0.80, CI<sub>95%</sub> = 0.07-1.52), and sleep latency (<i>d</i> = 0.82, CI<sub>95%</sub> = 0.09-1.54) were all reduced. These improvements in objective sleep metrics were corroborated by subjective assessments using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (<i>d</i> = 0.86, CI<sub>95%</sub> = 0.13-1.59).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Telehealth combined with parental support addresses barriers to enhancing health behaviors at home. This innovative model not only improves after-school MVPA and sleep quality in autistic children but also holds significant potential for benefiting other populations requiring remote support.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial registration: </strong>https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06444659?id=NCT06444659&rank=1 (NCT06444659).</p>","PeriodicalId":12637,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Pediatrics","volume":"12 ","pages":"1496827"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11543462/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Pediatrics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2024.1496827","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PEDIATRICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Sleep disturbances are prevalent in autistic children. The emergence of telehealth offers new possibilities for remote professional intervention. By combining telehealth with parental support, this study aims to explore a novel family-based model to enhance moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and improve sleep quality in children with autism.
Methods: Thirty-four autistic children (mean age = 15.7 years) were randomly assigned to either a 6-month intervention group or a control group. Both groups received standard physical education classes at school. The intervention group received additional after-school telehealth support. MVPA and sleep quality were assessed 1 week before the intervention and at the 6-month follow-up.
Results: After 6 months, children in the intervention group nearly doubled their daily MVPA compared to the control group (Cohen's d = 8.34, CI95% = 6.17-10.52). Actigraphy-assessed sleep efficiency was notably higher (d = 2.35, CI95% = 1.44-3.26), and there were reductions in wake time (d = 1.65, CI95% = 0.84-2.46), sleep fragmentation (d = 0.80, CI95% = 0.07-1.52), and sleep latency (d = 0.82, CI95% = 0.09-1.54) were all reduced. These improvements in objective sleep metrics were corroborated by subjective assessments using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (d = 0.86, CI95% = 0.13-1.59).
Conclusions: Telehealth combined with parental support addresses barriers to enhancing health behaviors at home. This innovative model not only improves after-school MVPA and sleep quality in autistic children but also holds significant potential for benefiting other populations requiring remote support.
期刊介绍：
Frontiers in Pediatrics (Impact Factor 2.33) publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research broadly across the field, from basic to clinical research that meets ongoing challenges in pediatric patient care and child health. Field Chief Editors Arjan Te Pas at Leiden University and Michael L. Moritz at the Children''s Hospital of Pittsburgh are supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international experts. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide.
Frontiers in Pediatrics also features Research Topics, Frontiers special theme-focused issues managed by Guest Associate Editors, addressing important areas in pediatrics. In this fashion, Frontiers serves as an outlet to publish the broadest aspects of pediatrics in both basic and clinical research, including high-quality reviews, case reports, editorials and commentaries related to all aspects of pediatrics.
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