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| Effects of massage therapy on clinical manifestations and gastrointestinal symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder |
| WANG Jing, LIU Yun, HUANG Haoyu, WU Jinting, LIU Chunming, ZHANG Yangping |
| Department of Rehabilitation, Kunming Children’s Hospital, Kunming 650034, Yunnan Province, China |
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Abstract Objective To observe the effects of massage therapy on the clinical efficacy and comorbid gastrointestinal symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder （ASD） based on the theory of gut-brain axis theory. Methods A total of 80 children with ASD were selected and randomly divided into control group （n=40） and experiment group （n=40）. The control group was given conventional rehabilitation treatment. The experiment group was treated with conventional rehabilitation treatment and massage therapy, which was 6 times a week, 30 min each time, 4 weeks as a course of treatment, and 3 courses in total. The autism behavior checklist （ABC）, childhood autism rating scale （CARS）, and the symptom scale for gastrointestinal diseases were used. The scores of the core ASD symptoms and combid gastrointestinal symptoms of the two groups before and after treatment were compared. Results The actual enrollment was 36 cases in the experiment group and 34 cases in the control group. After treatment, the ABC and CARS scores of both groups were significantly lower than those before treatment （P<0.05）, and scores of the experiment group were better than those of the control group （P<0.05）. In the experiment group, 27 cases were markedly effective and 9 cases were effective; the total effective rate was 100%. In the control group, 18 cases were markedly effective and 13 cases were effective; the total effective rate was 91.2%. After treatment, the scores of gastrointestinal diseases symptom in both groups were lower than those before treatment （P<0.05）, and scores of the experiment group were better than those of the control group （P<0.05）. In 25 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms in the experiment group, 13 cases were markedly effective and 12 cases were effective, with a total effective rate of 100%. In 23 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms in the control group, 6 cases were markedly effective and 11 cases were effective, with a total effective rate of 73.9%. Conclusion According to the gut-brain axis theory, massage therapy can improve the clinical symptoms of children with ASD and at the same time reduce the comorbid gastrointestinal symptoms.
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