Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of virtual reality (VR)-based rehabilitation training for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in order to provide a theoretical foundation for digital interventions in ASD treatment. Methods From December 2023 to April 2024, a total of 60 children diagnosed with ASD at the Department of Child Health Medicine, Shanghai Children′s Hospital were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group.The control group received early family intervention guided by a rehabilitation team, while the intervention group underwent VR-based rehabilitation training once a week for one hour per session additionally.Therapeutic outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention using the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Results Before the intervention, there were no statistically significant differences in ABC, CARS, SDQ, and SRS scores between the intervention and control groups (P>0.05).After the intervention, the intervention group showed significantly lower scores in the sensory, social, and motor factors of the ABC, as well as in the total ABC and CARS scores, compared to the control group (t=2.253, 2.113, 2.162, 3.364, 2.742, P < 0.05).The SDQ revealed that the intervention group had significantly lower scores in hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior, and total difficulties compared to the control group (t=2.084, 3.623, 2.591, 3.074, P < 0.05).The SRS results indicated that the intervention group outperformed the control group in social cognition, social communication, autistic mannerisms, and total scores after the intervention (t =2.012, 2.546, 2.126, 3.507, P<0.05). Conclusions VR-based rehabilitation training demonstrates positive effects on improving core symptoms and social functioning in children with ASD, highlighting its potential for clinical application.However, further research is needed to validate its long-term efficacy and generalizability.
Key words
virtual reality /
rehabilitation /
preschool /
autism spectrum disorder /
therapeutic efficacy
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