Abstract
A growing body of research highlights that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have poor health outcomes, yet effective health interventions are lacking for this population. While mobile health applications demonstrate potential for promoting physical activity (PA) in adults with ASD, scientific evidence for supporting this tool’s long-term effectiveness on PA behavior change remains inconclusive. This study aimed to provide the latest information on PA research and the prospective role of mobile health applications for promoting PA in adults with ASD. A literature review demonstrated that a few available studies show contradictory results regarding PA levels in adults with ASD, and behavior change techniques and gamification-guided mobile health applications can be promising tactics to leverage autism’s strengths and increase PA in these individuals. Optimizing design decisions based on needs analysis and user feedback is crucial to identifying and developing a sustainable mobile health intervention for PA promotion in adults with ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social interaction and communication deficits, as well as restricted or repetitive behavior patterns and interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
This descriptive mini review aimed to provide the latest information on physical activity (PA) research and the prospective role of mobile health applications for promoting PA in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
There is little information on PA as a preventive health behavior in adults with ASD (Reinders et al, 2019). Most research in this area has been conducted in children and adolescents, and the findings indicate that they are less physically active (Pan, 2008; Stanish et al, 2017) or engage in similar levels of PA participation as their typically developing peers (Sandt and Frey, 2005; Bandini et al, 2013)
Summary
A growing body of research highlights that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have poor health outcomes, yet effective health interventions are lacking for this population. While mobile health applications demonstrate potential for promoting physical activity (PA) in adults with ASD, scientific evidence for supporting this tool’s long-term effectiveness on PA behavior change remains inconclusive. This study aimed to provide the latest information on PA research and the prospective role of mobile health applications for promoting PA in adults with ASD. A literature review demonstrated that a few available studies show contradictory results regarding PA levels in adults with ASD, and behavior change techniques and gamification-guided mobile health applications can be promising tactics to leverage autism’s strengths and increase PA in these individuals.
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