The effectiveness of parent training for children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analyses

Abstract Background Various parent training interventions have been shown to have some effect on the symptoms of children with autism. We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to assess effectiveness of parental training for children with autism on their symptoms and parental stress. Methods Four electronic databases, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched until March 2020 for relevant literature. Two reviewers independently screened bibliographies using an eligibility checklist and extracted data using a structured proforma. We have also carried out meta-analyses when data were available for pooling. Results Seventeen papers from 15 studies were included for data analysis. Fifteen papers showed a positive treatment effect when compared with the control group, although not always significant. Meta-analysis based on pooled data from only two studies in each respective intervention, showed small to moderate treatment effects for three interventions, DIR/Floortime, Pivotal Response and Parent focused training respectively. Conclusions As in previous systematic reviews there was a mild to moderate treatment effects of three specific types of interventions respectively. However, it was difficult to draw any definitive conclusion about the effectiveness and generalisability of any intervention because of the wide variation in the interventions, control groups, outcome measures, small sample size, small number of studies in meta-analysis, overlap between the intervention and control procedures used in the included studies. There is an urgent need for experts in various international centres to jointly standardise a parent training intervention for children with autism and carry out a large scale RCT to assess its clinical and economic effectiveness. Research Registry Unique Identifying Number: reviewregistry915.

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A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Parent Training for Disruptive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review ◽

10.1007/s10567-017-0237-2 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 391-402 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Valentina Postorino ◽

William G. Sharp ◽

Courtney E. McCracken ◽

Karen Bearss ◽

T. Lindsey Burrell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Parent Training ◽

Disruptive Behavior ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder

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Acupotomy Therapy for Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2019/2010816 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jianyu You ◽

Fengyun Yang ◽

Naigang Liu ◽

Nana Tang ◽

Ting Fang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Randomized Controlled Trials ◽

Large Scale ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Adhesive Capsulitis ◽

Small Sample ◽

Control Group ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Significant Difference

Objective. Acupotomy therapy is widely used for pain management. However, the efficacy of acupotomy on shoulder adhesive capsulitis (SAC) is still uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy therapy for SAC. Methods. We searched seven electronic databases to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupotomy for SAC published before April 2019. A meta-analysis was performed according to the Cochrane systematic review method by using RevMan 5.3 software. Results. A total of eight RCTs involving 501 patients were enrolled. Meta-analysis showed that acupotomy was significantly better than the control group in debasing the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score (MD = −0.97, 95% CI = [−1.49, −0.45], P=0.0003) and improving the Constant–Murley Score (CMS) (MD = 8.46, 95% CI = [1.04, 15.87], P=0.03), and there was no significant difference in adverse events (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = [0.34, 4.52], P=0.74) between the two groups. Conclusion. Acupotomy therapy is an effective and safe treatment for SAC, and this treatment can be recommended for the management of SAC. Due to the low quality and small sample size of the included studies, more rigorously designed RCTs with high quality and large-scale are recommended in future.

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Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Acetaminophen-Related Liver Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Experimental Studies in Vivo

Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy ◽

10.2174/1574888x16666211007092055 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Author(s):

Li Wang ◽

Yiwen Zhang ◽

Jiajun Zhong ◽

Yuan Zhang ◽

Shuisheng Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Stem Cell ◽

Liver Injury ◽

Mesenchymal Stem Cell ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Small Sample ◽

Control Group

Objective: The efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy in acetaminophen-induced liver injury has been investigated in animal experiments, but individual studies with a small sample size cannot be used to draw a clear conclusion. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies to explore the potential of using MSCs in acetaminophen-induced liver injury. Methods: Eight databases were searched for studies reporting the effects of MSCs on acetaminophen hepatoxicity. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used. SYRCLE’s risk of bias tool for animal studies was applied to assess the methodological quality. A meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.4 and STATA/SE 16.0 software. Results: Eleven studies involving 159 animals were included according to PRISMA statement guidelines. Significant associations were found for MSCs with the levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) (standardized mean difference (SMD) − 2.58, p < 0.0001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (SMD − 1.75, p = 0.001), glutathione (GSH) (SMD 3.7, p < 0.0001), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (SMD 1.86, p = 0.022), interleukin 10 (IL-10) (SMD 5.14, p = 0.0002) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (SMD − 4.48, p = 0.011) compared with those in the control group. The subgroup analysis showed that the tissue source of MSCs significantly affected the therapeutic efficacy (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our meta-analysis results demonstrate that MSCs could be a potential treatment for acetaminophen-related liver injury.

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Equine assisted activities and therapies in children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Complementary Therapies in Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.ctim.2018.11.004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 104-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Tomasz Trzmiel ◽

Barbara Purandare ◽

Michał Michalak ◽

Ewa Zasadzka ◽

Mariola Pawlaczyk

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Equine Assisted

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Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 55 ◽

pp. 80-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Emma Kinnaird ◽

Catherine Stewart ◽

Kate Tchanturia

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Autistic People ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Popu Lations ◽

Specific Subgroup ◽

New Research ◽

Meta Analyses

AbstractBackground:New research suggests that, rather than representing a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emotional processing difficulties reflect co-occurring alexithymia. Autistic individuals with alexithymia could therefore represent a specific subgroup of autism who may benefit from tailored interventions. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the nature and prevalence of alexithymia in autism using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).Methods:Online scientific databases were searched systematically for studies on ASD popu lations using the TAS. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate differences in scores between the ASD and neurotypical groups, and to determine the prevalence of alexithymia in these populations.Results:15 articles comparing autistic and neurotypical (NT) groups were identified. Autistic people scored significantly higher on all scores compared to the NT group. There was also a higher prevalence of alexithymia in the ASD group (49.93% compared to 4.89%), with a significantly increased risk of alexithymia in autistic participants.Conclusions:This review highlights that alexithymia is common, rather than universal, in ASD, supporting a growing body of evidence that co-occurring autism and alexithymia represents a specific subgroup in the ASD population that may have specific clinical needs. More research is needed to understand the nature and implications of co-occurring ASD and alexithymia.

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Epigenome-wide meta-analysis of blood DNA methylation and its association with subcortical volumes: findings from the ENIGMA Epigenetics Working Group

Molecular Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41380-019-0605-z ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tianye Jia ◽

Congying Chu ◽

Yun Liu ◽

Jenny van Dongen ◽

Evangelos Papastergios ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Nucleus Accumbens ◽

Large Scale ◽

Biomarker Discovery ◽

Association Studies ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Hippocampal Volume ◽

Small Sample ◽

Small Sample Sizes ◽

Meta Analyses

AbstractDNA methylation, which is modulated by both genetic factors and environmental exposures, may offer a unique opportunity to discover novel biomarkers of disease-related brain phenotypes, even when measured in other tissues than brain, such as blood. A few studies of small sample sizes have revealed associations between blood DNA methylation and neuropsychopathology, however, large-scale epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) are needed to investigate the utility of DNA methylation profiling as a peripheral marker for the brain. Here, in an analysis of eleven international cohorts, totalling 3337 individuals, we report epigenome-wide meta-analyses of blood DNA methylation with volumes of the hippocampus, thalamus and nucleus accumbens (NAcc)—three subcortical regions selected for their associations with disease and heritability and volumetric variability. Analyses of individual CpGs revealed genome-wide significant associations with hippocampal volume at two loci. No significant associations were found for analyses of thalamus and nucleus accumbens volumes. Cluster-based analyses revealed additional differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with hippocampal volume. DNA methylation at these loci affected expression of proximal genes involved in learning and memory, stem cell maintenance and differentiation, fatty acid metabolism and type-2 diabetes. These DNA methylation marks, their interaction with genetic variants and their impact on gene expression offer new insights into the relationship between epigenetic variation and brain structure and may provide the basis for biomarker discovery in neurodegeneration and neuropsychiatric conditions.

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