Effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy on movement quality in autistic young adults: a superiority pragmatic randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Autistic persons experience problems with movements and body awareness in everyday functionality, expressed in affected movement quality. Yet, there is a knowledge gap about the effects of interventions targeting these aspects in autistic persons. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) and treatment-as-usual (TAU), compared to TAU alone on movement quality in autistic persons. METHODS: In this pragmatic RCT, autistic persons with no intellectual disorder, 15-30 years old and in contact with habilitation services, were randomized to an intervention group (IG) (n = 28, 22 females) or a control group (CG) (n = 29, 21 females). The IG received 12 sessions of individual BBAT and TAU, the CG received TAU. Primary outcome was a person-reported measure of an individualized movement quality problem, using a numeric rating scale (NRS). Secondary outcome was Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ), i.e., scored physiotherapist observations. Between- and within-group analyses, and individual one-sided t-tests were performed. RESULTS: Comparing the between-group changes in NRS and BAS MQ after 12 weeks, the differences were statistically significant in favor of the IG (p < 0.001). Within-group analyses: the IG had statistically significant improvements on both outcomes (p < 0.001), the CG had not. Individually in the IG, 54 % of the participants improved significantly in NRS and 41 % in BAS MQ. In the CG, the corresponding numbers were 10 % and 7 %, respectively. CONCLUSION: BBAT and TAU were superior to TAU alone for improving movement quality. BBAT is a relevant intervention for autistic young adults to improve everyday functionality. REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials NCT0323876.