Therapies for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Table 15. Outcomes of studies assessing educational interventions
Author, year, country
Groups, N enrollment/N final
Study quality
Panerai et al. 185 2009, Italy
G1: TEACCH in a residential
center, 11/11
G2: TEACCH at home and at
mainstream schools, 13/13
G3: Inclusive education in
mainstream schools, 10/10
Quality: Good
Tsang 187 2007, China
G1: TEACCH curriculum (Chinese
version), 18/18
G2: Non-TEACCH classroom
setup and teaching, 18/16 (2 at 12mo
followup)
Quality: Fair
Rickards et al. 194,198 2007,
Australia
G1: Combined center-based and
home based program, 30/30
G2: Center based program only,
29/29
Quality: Good
Age, mean ± SD
IQ, mean ± SD
TEACCH
G1: 9.66 yrs ± 2.31
G2: 8.66 yrs ± 2.01
G3: 9.09 yrs ± 2.07
NR
G1: 4.063 yrs ± 0.529
G2: 4.050 yrs ± 0.734
NR
Broad-based educational approaches
G1: 44.6 mo ± 6.1
G2: 43.1 mo ± 6.5
G1: 60.2 ± 20
G2: 60.6 ± 21.8
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Key outcomes
• Significant difference in PEP-R analysis from
baseline to post-intervention (G1, p=0.02, G2,
p=0.022, G3: p=ns) and between-groups (G3 vs.
G1 vs. G2: p=0.009, G3 vs. G2: p=0.001, G3 vs.
G1: p=ns, G2 vs. G1: p=ns).
• Significant difference in VABS analysis between
outcome vs. baseline (G1: p=0.02, G2: p=0.02,
G3: p=ns) but not between-groups (G3 vs. G1
vs. G2: p=n.s, G3 vs. G2: p=n.s, G3 vs. G1:
p=ns, G2 vs. G1: p=ns).
• G1 statistically significant improvement
compared with G2 for CPEP-R Developmental
Scale in perception (p≤0.05), Fine Motor
(p≤0.01), and Gross Motor (p≤0.05) subsets
(means adjusted after controlling for age, IQ,
and pretest scores).
• G2 showed more progress than G1 in the Daily
living domain (p≤0.001) and the HKBABS sum
of domains standard score (p≤0.05) (means
adjusted after controlling for age, IQ, and pretest
scores).
Improvement differences over time in G1 were
significant over 12 mo (pre-test, post-test 1, and
post-test 2) for all scales and subscales in
CPEP-R, Merrill-Palmer Scale of Mental Test
(total raw scores and mental age), and the
HKBABS (all indicators except overall sum of
domain standard score) (range: p