Physiological Profile Assessment of Posture in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developing Peers.

Cecilia Perin,Cesare Maria Cornaggia,Cesare Giuseppe Cerri,Daniele Piscitelli,Enzo Grossi,Jasmine Menant,Valentina Gariboldi,Miryam Mazzucchelli,Giulio Valagussa,Roberto Meroni

doi:10.3390/brainsci10100681

Abstract

A sound postural system requires sensorimotor integration. Evidence suggests that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) present sensorimotor integration impairments. The Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) can be used to evaluate postural capacity assessing five physiological subsets (i.e., vision, reaction time, peripheral sensation, lower limb strength, balance); however, no studies applied the PPA in young individuals. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the PPA in children and adolescents with ASD compared with age-matched typically developing (TD) individuals and examine the relationship between the PPA subset within the ASD and TD participants according to different age groups. Percentiles from the PPA were obtained from the TD children and adolescents (n = 135) for each test. Performances of the individuals with ASD (n = 18) were examined relative to the TD percentiles. ASD participants’ scores were above the 90th percentile (i.e., poor performance) in most sensory, motor and balance parameters. Performance in most of the PPA tests significantly improved with older age in the TD group but not in the ASD group. The study findings support the use of the PPA in TD children and adolescents while further research should investigate postural capacity in a larger ASD sample to enhance the understanding of sensorimotor systems contributing to compromised postural control.

Highlights

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting ~1 in 59 with four males diagnosed for each female in North America [1] and 1 in 87 children aged 7–9 years in Italy [2]
In addition to these characteristic features, several motor dysfunctions have been described in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children and teenagers including disruptions in motor milestone development [4,5], clumsiness, impaired motor coordination, disturbance in reach-to-grasp movements [6,7,8], deficits in gross and fine motor skills [9] and abnormal gait patterns [10,11] Postural control impairments have been reported in ASD individuals [12,13,14,15,16,17]
While we agree that sensory integration needs to be considered, our findings demonstrate that poor performances in the single sensorimotor tests administered clearly impact on postural control in ASD

Summary

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting ~1 in 59 with four males diagnosed for each female in North America [1] and 1 in 87 children aged 7–9 years in Italy [2]. Deficits in social communication and social interaction are associated with repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities that cause significant impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning In addition to these characteristic features, several motor dysfunctions have been described in ASD children and teenagers including disruptions in motor milestone development [4,5], clumsiness, impaired motor coordination, disturbance in reach-to-grasp movements [6,7,8], deficits in gross and fine motor skills [9] and abnormal gait patterns [10,11] Postural control impairments have been reported in ASD individuals [12,13,14,15,16,17]. Individuals with ASD exhibited deficits in functional balance and motor performance [14]

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