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B.I.A. Akinola1, C.B. Aiyejusunle1, O.A. Olawale1, Y. Oshodi2, D.E. Ajakaiye1
1College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Department of Physiotherapy, Lagos, Nigeria, 2College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Department of Psychiatry, Lagos, Nigeria
Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have been reported to exhibit a plethora of abnormal behaviours such as restlessness, poor attention span, and over-activity; all of which have been shown to impact negatively on their quality of life. A few therapeutic approaches, including dance and movement therapy have been suggested to improve attention span and quality of life of individuals with autism spectrum. However, results of availabe studies have been contrasting and there is still a dearth of literature evaluating dance for children with ASD.
Purpose: To determine the effects of recreational dance on the attention span and quality of life of individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
Methods: Eighteen (18) participants with ASDs were recruited for this study from Children’s Developmental Centre, Surulere Lagos, Nigeria. They were randomly assigned into the intervention and control groups comprising equal number of participants. Individuals in the intervention and control groups participated in ball catching/throwing together for 30 minutes, although individuals in the intervention group had extra sessions of recreational dance in addition to ball catching/throwing also for 30 minutes. The individuals in each group were treated for four (4) weeks, two (2) treatment sessions per week making a total of 8 sessions. Attention span was measured using the manual stopwatch in seconds before and after each treatment sessions while the quality of life (QoL) was assessed using the Quality of Life for individuals with Autism (QoLA) questionnaire pre- and post- the overall treatment sessions. Pre and Post intervention scores for Attention span was analyzed using the paired T-test at the level of significance of p< 0.05. Pre and Post intervention scores for Quality of life was analyzed using Mann-Whitney U Statistics at the level of significance of p< 0.05.
Results: The eighteen (18) participants comprising of 14 males (77.8%) and 4 females (22.2%) had their ages ranged from 8-29 years with the mean age of 20.2±7.39 years. Attention span improved significantly in both groups after each treatment session but the intervention group had greater improvement (from p= 0.036 to p=0.004 for the intervention group; from p=0.007 to p=0.000 for control group) after 4 weeks of intervention. There was no significant difference in the overall quality of life assessment after 4 weeks in both groups (p=0.268).
Conclusion(s): Recreational dance improved attention span but not quality of life in individuals with autism spectrum disorder after 4 weeks of intervention.
Implications: Recreational dance should be considered as part of the programme to promote attention span in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
Funding, acknowledgements: No external funding received
Keywords: Autism, Recreational dance, Attention span
Topic: Paediatrics
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Lagos University Teaching Hospital
Committee: Health Research and Ethics Committee
Ethics number: ADM/DCST/HREC/APP/2849
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
