Postural Sway Patterns in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared with Typically Developing Children

Elsevier. 3251 Riverport Lane, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Tel: 800-325-4177; Tel: 314-447-8000; Fax: 314-447-8033; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com

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8

Autism; Children; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Comparative Analysis; Early Adolescents; Human Posture; Scores

10.1016/j.rasd.2012.09.010

1750-9467

Postural control is a fundamental building block of each child's daily activities. The aim of this study was to compare patterns of postural sway in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with typically developing children (TD). We recruited 21 schoolchildren diagnosed with ASD aged 9-14 and 30 TD pupils aged 8-15. Postural sway parameters in composite, anteroposterior and mediolateral axis were reported. Furthermore we examined the impact of age and characteristics of autism on postural sway. Children with ASD exhibited higher amount of sway in anteroposterior range (p less than 0.001), mediolateral range (p = 0.002), root mean square (p = 0.001), mean velocity (p = 0.03), and sway area (p = 0.007) compared with their TD peers. Children with ASD showed higher instability in mediolateral than anteroposterior axis though TD children demonstrated higher sway scores in anteroposterior than mediolateral direction. The rate of autism symptom severity significantly affected the postural sway in children with ASD (p less than 0.05). In conclusion, patterns of postural control seem to be different in children with ASD compared with TD counterparts. This could be partially due to clinical features were underlying in ASD. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

As Provided

2013

EJ1006382