BACKGROUND
Background: Virtual reality (VR) technology has demonstrated the potential to aid the social abilities of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
OBJECTIVE
Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of evidence supporting the use of VR technology to enhance the social skills of children and adolescents with ASD.
METHODS
Methods: Four databases, namely PubMed, Web of Science, IEEE, and Scopus were searched for eligible studies. Two researchers independently assessed the extracted studies according to pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The researchers independently extracted information regarding the sources, samples, measurement methods, primary results, and data related to the main results of the included studies. The quality of studies was further evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale.
RESULTS
Results: Fourteen studies investigating the use of VR technology to improve the social abilities of children and adolescents with ASD were included. Nine of the 14 studies (64.1%) were single-group before-and-after trials, 4 (28.8%) were randomised controlled trials, and 1 (7.1%) was a single-case trial. We summarised the results of these existing studies, finding that 13 of the 14 studies reported that VR technology positively improved the social abilities of children and adolescents with ASD, while only one study reported that VR technology had no significant effect. Assessment of the 14 studies in the PEDro scale showed that six (42.9%) were rated as high quality, four (28.5%) as fair quality, and four (28.6%) as low quality.
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions: Previous research has indicated the potential of VR technology to enhance the social skills of children and adolescents with ASD. Future studies should focus on conducting higher-quality randomized controlled trials to validate these findings. Furthermore, there is a growing need to create diverse VR scenarios to meet the varying needs of individuals with different forms of ASD.
CLINICALTRIAL
Our research protocol was registered in the International Platform for Registering Protocols for International Systematic Evaluation and Meta-Analysis (INPLASY) International Platform (ID: INPLASY202420079U1).