Key result
AHMPS inflating wraps reduce heart rate and skin conductance in ASD children versus manual pull.
Why the study?
Traveling with children with autism is challenging due to sensory stimuli causing behavioral problems, and the physiological effect of deep pressure in this context was investigated.
Does deep pressure using an inflating wrap model reduce physiological arousal in children with ASD during traveling compared to a manual pull model?
RCT (n=20)
randomly assigned
No
Does deep pressure using an inflating wrap model reduce physiological arousal in children with ASD during traveling compared to a manual pull model?
p-value: p=0.019 for HR, <0.0001 for SC
Deep pressure using an inflating wrap model effectively decreases physiological arousal in children with ASD during traveling.
Supports inflating wrap for arousal reduction in traveling ASD children; extends deep pressure evidence with RCT data.
Traveling with children with autism can be very challenging for parents due to their reactions to sensory stimuli resulting in behavioral problems, which lead to self-injury and danger for themselves and others. Deep pressure was reported to have a calming effect on people with autism. This study was designed to investigate the physiological effect of deep pressure, which is an autism hug machine portable seat (AHMPS) in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in public transportation settings. The study was conducted with 20 children with ASD (16 boys and 4 girls) at the Semarang Public Special School with an age ranging from 4 to 13 years (mean 10.9 ± 2.26 years), who were randomly assigned into two groups. The experiment consisted of group I who used the AHMPS inflatable wraps model and group II who used the AHMPS manual pull model. Heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) were analyzed to measure the physiological calming effect using pulse oximeter oximetry and a galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor. Heart rate was significantly decreased during the treatment compared to the baseline (pre-test) session in group I (inflating wrap model) with p = 0.019, while no change of heart rate variability (HRV) was found in group II (manual pull model) with p = 0.111. There was no remaining effect of deep pressure using the HRV indicator after the treatment in both groups (group I with p = 0.159 and group II with p = 0.566). GSR captured the significant decrease in skin conductance during the treatment with p < 0.0001 in group I, but no significant decrease was recorded in group II with p = 0.062. A skin conductance indicator captured the remaining effect of deep pressure (after the treatment); it was better in group I (p = 0.003) than in group II (p = 0.773). In conclusion, the deep pressure of the AHMPS inflating wrap decreases physiological arousal in children with ASD during traveling.
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Afif et al. (2022) conducted an RCT in Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (n=20). Autism hug machine portable seat (AHMPS) inflatable wraps model vs. AHMPS manual pull model was evaluated on Heart rate and skin conductance (p=0.019 for HR, <0.0001 for SC). The AHMPS inflating wrap model significantly decreased heart rate (P=0.019) and skin conductance (P<0.0001) during treatment in children with ASD, whereas the manual pull model did not.
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