Physical activity for adults with autism, ADHD or motor coordination disorder

Regular physical activity is linked to reduced risk of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and depression, and improved cognitive abilities. Researchers are investigating whether diagnosis-related symptoms and health-related outcomes in people with disabilities such as autism, ADHD and motor coordination disorder can be affected by physical activity.

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SBU Enquiry Service

Consists of structured literature searches to highlight studies that can address questions received by the SBU Enquiry Service from Swedish healthcare or social service providers. We assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews and when needed also quality and transferability of results in health economic studies. Relevant references are compiled by an SBU staff member, in consultation with an external expert when needed.

Question

What systematic reviews have been published regarding the effects of physical activity or exercise on participation, physical and mental health, and diagnosis-related symptoms in adults with autism, ADHD and/or motor coordination disorder?

Method

A systematic literature search was performed using the following databases: Medline (Ovid), Scopus, and CINAHL (EBSCO).

Two authors independently assessed the abstracts of all identified studies.
Risk of bias in relevant systematic reviews was assessed using an assessment tool based on AMSTAR.

Identified literature

In two relevant systematic reviews, the risk of bias was considered to be high, therefore the results and conclusions are not reported [1, 2].

References

  1. Den Heijer AE, Groen Y, Tucha L, Fuermaier ABM, Koerts J, Lange KW, et al. Sweat it out? The effects of physical exercise on cognition and behavior in children and adults with ADHD: a systematic literature review. J Neural Transm. 2017;124:3-26. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1593-7.
  2. Xie Y, Gao X, Song Y, Zhu X, Chen M, Yang L, et al. Effectiveness of Physical Activity Intervention on ADHD Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Psychiatry. 2021;12. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.706625.
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Published: Report no: ut202330 Registration no: SBU 2022/926
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Search strategies

Medline via OvidSP 6 Sept 2023

Title: Physical activity for adults with ADHD, autism or DCD
/ = Term from the MeSH controlled vocabulary; .sh = Term from the MeSH controlled vocabulary; exp= Term from MeSH including terms found below this term in the MeSH hierarchy; .ti,ab = Title or abstract; .tw = Title or abstract; .kf = Keywords; .kw = Keywords, exact >; .bt = Book title. NLM Bookshelf; .pt = Publication type; .ja = Journal abbreviation; .af = All fields; adjn = Adjacent. Proximity operator retrieving adjacent words, adj3 retrieves records with search terms within two terms from each other; * or $ = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. exp Autism Spectrum Disorder/ 42 746
2. (autis* or asd).ab,bt,kf,ti. 76 527
3. exp "Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders"/ 39 437
4. (attention deficit or adhd).ab,bt,kf,ti. 43 220
5. ((hyperactiv* or inattentive) adj4 (syndrome or disorder*)).ab,bt,kf,ti. 34 551
6. Motor Disorders/ 1056
7. Motor Skills Disorders/ 3234
8. (developmental coordination disorder or developmental co-ordination disorder or DCD).ab,bt,kf,ti. 4087
9. "dyspraxi*".ab,bt,kf,ti. 674
10. ((motor or neuromotor or psychomotor) adj4 (impairment* or disorder* or syndrome)).ab,bt,kf,ti. 27 222
11. or/1-10 161 306
Intervention:
12. exp Exercise/ 248 027
13. exp Exercise Therapy/ 63 661
14. exp Sports/ 217 312
15. (physical activit* or exercise or sport* or fitness or training or physiotherapy).ab,bt,kf,ti. 1 088 268
16. or/12-15 1 218 773
Study types: systematic reviews and meta-analysis
17. ((Systematic Review/ or Meta-Analysis/ or Cochrane Database Syst Rev.ja. or ((systematic adj4 review) or "meta analys*" or metaanalys*).ti,bt,ab.) not (editorial/ or letter/ or case reports/))
Combined sets:
18. 11 AND 16 AND 17 604
Final result
19.   604

Scopus via scopus.com 6 Sept 2023

Title: Physical activity for adults with ADHD, autism or DCD
TITLE-ABS-KEY = Title, abstract or keywords (including indexed keywords and author keywords); ALL = All fields; W/n = Within. Proximity operator retrieving terms within n words from each other; PRE/n = Precedes by. Proximity operator, the first term in the search must precede the second by n words.; LIMIT-TO (X) = Includes only results of specified type, e.g., publication type or time range; DOCTYPE = Publication type “re” = review; “le” = letter; “ed” = editorial; “ch” = book chapter; “cp” = conference proceedings; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( autis* OR asd OR "attention deficit" OR adhd ) 203 266
2. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ( hyperactiv* OR inattentive ) W/3 ( syndrome OR disorder* )) 57 997
3. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "developmental coordination disorder" OR "developmental co-ordination disorder" OR dcd OR dyspraxi* ) 8472
4. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ( motor OR neuromotor OR psychomotor ) W/3 ( impairment* OR disorder* OR syndrome ) ) 45 756
5. 1 OR 2 OR 3 OR 4 254 047
Intervention:
6. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( exercise  OR  sport*  OR  "physical activit*"  OR  fitness  OR  training  OR  physiotherapy ) 2 847 490
Study types: systematic reviews and meta-analysis
7. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ( systematic W/2 review ) OR "meta analy*" OR metaanaly* ) AND (EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “le”) OR EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “ed”) OR EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “ch”) OR EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “cp”))  
Combined sets:
8. 5 OR 6 OR 7 1241
Final result
9.   1241

CINAHL via EBSCO 6 Sept 2023

Title: Physical activity for adults with ADHD, autism or DCD
TI = Title; AB = Abstract; SU = Keyword, exact or part (including all other fields for indexed and author keywords); MH = Exact subject heading, indexed keywords; TX = All text; PT = Publication type; Nn = Near. Proximity operator retrieving terms within n words from each other; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. TI ( autis* OR asd OR "attention deficit" OR adhd ) OR AB ( autis* OR asd OR "attention deficit" OR adhd ) OR SU ( autis* OR asd OR "attention deficit" OR adhd ) 61 529
2. TI ( ( ( hyperactiv* OR inattentive ) N3 ( syndrome OR disorder* ) ) OR AB ( ( ( hyperactiv* OR inattentive ) N3 ( syndrome OR disorder* ) ) OR SU ( ( ( hyperactiv* OR inattentive ) N3 ( syndrome OR disorder* ) ) 21 571
3. TI ( ( "developmental coordination disorder" OR "developmental co-ordination disorder" OR dcd OR dyspraxi* ) ) OR AB ( ( "developmental coordination disorder" OR "developmental co-ordination disorder" OR dcd OR dyspraxi* ) ) OR SU ( ( "developmental coordination disorder" OR "developmental co-ordination disorder" OR dcd OR dyspraxi* ) ) 1737
4. TI ( ( ( motor OR neuromotor OR psychomotor ) N3 ( impairment* OR disorder* OR syndrome ) ) ) OR AB ( ( ( motor OR neuromotor OR psychomotor ) N3 ( impairment* OR disorder* OR syndrome ) ) ) OR SU ( ( ( motor OR neuromotor OR psychomotor ) N3 ( impairment* OR disorder* OR syndrome ) ) ) 9862
5. 1 OR 2 OR 3 OR 4 OR 5 71 592
Intervention:
6. TI ( ( exercise OR sport* OR "physical activit*" OR fitness OR training OR physiotherapy ) ) OR AB ( ( exercise OR sport* OR "physical activit*" OR fitness OR training OR physiotherapy ) ) OR SU ( ( exercise OR sport* OR "physical activit*" OR fitness OR training OR physiotherapy ) ) 578 478
Study types: systematic reviews and meta-analysis
7. TI((systematic N3 review) OR "meta analys*" OR metaanalys*) OR AB((systematic N3 review) OR "meta analys*" OR metaanalys*) OR SU((systematic N3 review) OR "meta analys*" OR metaanalys*)  
Combined sets:
8. 5 OR 6 OR 7 454
Final result
9.   454
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