Dataset Information

Promoting Positive Health Outcomes in an Urban Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Preschool Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum.

ABSTRACT: While there is wide consensus regarding the importance of early intervention, health is rarely considered within priorities. Twenty-five children on the autism spectrum (Mage = 4.67, SD = 0.82) participated in a 12-week physical activity intervention. Primary objective was to examine impact of a physical activity intervention on physical activity, fitness and motor competence. Secondary objective was to examine associations between motor behavior and ASD symptoms. Ball skills (p < .001) and isometric push-up performance (p = .02) improved. Autism symptoms were associated with motor skills (r > - .49, p < .05). Study outcomes provide new knowledge regarding design, delivery, and measures for early interventions targeting health disparities in young children on the autism spectrum.

SUBMITTER: Ketcheson L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7812710 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Promoting Positive Health Outcomes in an Urban Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Preschool Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum.

Ketcheson Leah L Staples Kerri K Pitchford Edward Andrew EA Loetzner Franziska F

Journal of autism and developmental disorders 20210118 2

While there is wide consensus regarding the importance of early intervention, health is rarely considered within priorities. Twenty-five children on the autism spectrum (M<sub>age</sub> = 4.67, SD = 0.82) participated in a 12-week physical activity intervention. Primary objective was to examine impact of a physical activity intervention on physical activity, fitness and motor competence. Secondary objective was to examine associations between motor behavior and ASD symptoms. Ball skills (p < .00 ...[more]

PMID: 33459918

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Project description:BackgroundThe core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are widely theorized to result from altered brain connectivity. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) has been a versatile method for investigating underlying microstructural properties of white matter (WM) in ASD. Despite phenotypic and etiological heterogeneity, DWI studies in majority male samples of older children, adolescents, and adults with ASD have largely reported findings of decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) across several commissural, projection, and association fiber tracts. However, studies in preschool-aged children (i.e., < 30-40 months) suggest individuals with ASD have increased measures of WM FA earlier in development.MethodsWe analyzed 127 individuals with ASD (85♂, 42♀) and 54 typically developing (TD) controls (42♂, 26♀), aged 25.1-49.6 months. Voxel-wise effects of ASD diagnosis, sex, age, and their interaction on DWI measures of FA, mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD) were investigated using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) while controlling mean absolute and relative motion.ResultsCompared to TD controls, males and females with ASD had significantly increased measures of FA in eight clusters (threshold-free cluster enhancement p < 0.05) that incorporated several WM tracts including regions of the genu, body, and splenium of the corpus callosum, inferior frontal-occipital fasciculi, inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi, middle and superior cerebellar peduncles, and corticospinal tract. A diagnosis by sex interaction was observed in measures of AD across six significant clusters incorporating areas of the body, genu, and splenium of the corpus collosum. In these tracts, females with ASD showed increased AD compared to TD females, while males with ASD showed decreased AD compared to TD males.ConclusionsThe current findings support growing evidence that preschool-aged children with ASD have atypical measures of WM microstructure that appear to differ in directionality from alterations observed in older individuals with the condition. To our knowledge, this study represents the largest sample of preschool-aged females with ASD to be evaluated using DWI. Microstructural differences associated with ASD largely overlapped between sexes. However, differential relationships of AD measures indicate that sex likely modulates ASD neuroanatomical phenotypes. Further longitudinal study is needed to confirm and quantify the developmental relationship of WM structure in ASD.

Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about the precise impaired patterns of white matter (WM) fiber tracts in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thus, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based automated fiber quantification (AFQ) to explore the changes in WM fiber tracts in preschool-aged children with ASD and its correlation with the severity of clinical manifestations.MethodsA total of 43 pediatric ASD and 42 age- and sex-matched typical developing children were examined with DTI. AFQ was used to quantify 100 nodes of 16 specific WM fiber tracts. The DTI metrics, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD), were compared between the two groups. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate whether abnormal DTI metrics correlated with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale.ResultsCompared with typical developing children, at the entire level, the ASD group exhibited a decreased FA [P=0.04 after false discovery rate (FDR) correction] and an increased MD (P=0.048 after FDR correction), and RD (P=0.024 after FDR correction) in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF). A decreased FA (P=0.02 after FDR correction) and an increased RD (P=0.024 after FDR correction) were shown in forceps minor. An increased MD (P=0.016 after FDR correction) and RD (P=0.026 after FDR correction) were shown in the left inferior frontal-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). At the point-wise level, significantly decreased FA, and increased MD and RD were observed in the anterior part of forceps minor, left IFOF, and posterior part of left ILF in the ASD group (all P<0.05 after FDR correction). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between FA of the posterior part of left ILF and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale within the ASD group (r=-0.475, P<0.001).ConclusionsPreschool-aged children with ASD displayed a site-specific propensity for WM fiber tract impairment, mainly in the left cerebral hemisphere. The decreased integrity for the posterior part of the left ILF may reflect the severity of autistic symptoms.

Dataset Information

Promoting Positive Health Outcomes in an Urban Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Preschool Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum.

Publications

Promoting Positive Health Outcomes in an Urban Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Preschool Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum.

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