Efficacy of folic acid supplementation as an adjuvant therapy in treatment of children with autism

LI Nan-nan; XIA Wei; SUN Cai-hong; ZHAO Dong; WU Kun.

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2013, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (1) : 13-15.

Efficacy of folic acid supplementation as an adjuvant therapy in treatment of children with autism

LI Nan-nan,XIA Wei,SUN Cai-hong,ZHAO Dong,WU Kun.

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Abstract

Objective To study the efficacy of folic acid supplementation as an adjuvant therapy in treatment of children with autism participated in structured teaching. Methods The method of open trial was used in this study.66 autistic children participated in structured teaching were divided into folic acid intervention group and control group based on the principle of voluntariness.Developmental progress was measured by Autism Behavior Scale (ABC),Children's Autism Rating Scale (CARS),Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and Psychoeducational Profile-Third Edition (PEP-3) before and after 3 months' treatment. Results Compared with 3 months before,the overall scores of ABC,CARS and ATEC of both groups were significantly lower than before (P<0.05),while the scores of all items of PEP-3 scale were higher than before (P<0.05),except for character motor behavior.According to the differentials of each scale before and after treatment,intervention group showed greater progress in language of ATEC and cognition,expressive language and receptive language of PEP-3 scale than those of control group (P<0.05). Conclusions Autism children participated in structured teaching with folic acid intervention presents greater progress in cognition and language than those in independent structured teaching.

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autism / structured teaching / folic acid intervention / therapy

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LI Nan-nan,XIA Wei,SUN Cai-hong,ZHAO Dong,WU Kun.. Efficacy of folic acid supplementation as an adjuvant therapy in treatment of children with autism[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2013, 21(1): 13-15

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