Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32390461›Full record

SynthesisAutism : the international journal of research and practice2020

Interventions to address health outcomes among autistic adults: A systematic review.

Teal W Benevides, Stephen M Shore, May-Lynn Andresen, Reid Caplan, Barb Cook, Dena L Gassner, Jasmine M Erves, Taylor M Hazlewood, M Caroline King, Lisa Morgan and 6 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Feasibility Study of a Novel App-Based Anxiety Intervention for Autistic People.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026
    Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Challenging neurotypical norms: Autistic adults' understandings of health.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Changing approaches to interventions for autistic adults.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Teal W BenevidesAugusta University, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1395-2628
Stephen M ShoreAdelphi University, USA.
May-Lynn AndresenQuality in Health Care Advisory Group, USA.
Reid CaplanAutistic Self Advocacy Network, USA.
Barb CookUniversity of Wollongong, Australia.
Dena L GassnerAdelphi University, USA.
Jasmine M ErvesAugusta University, USA.
Taylor M HazlewoodAugusta University, USA.
M Caroline KingAugusta University, USA.
Lisa MorganAutistic author, presenter, and trainer, USA.
Lauren E MurphyAugusta University, USA.
Yenn PurkisAutistic author, officer of the Australian Public Service, Australia.
Brigid RankowskiAutistic author, presenter, and educator, USA.
Sarah M RutledgeAugusta University, USA.
Savannah P WelchAugusta University, USA.
Karl WittigAutistic author, presenter, and trainer, USA.
Augusta University · USAdelphi University · USAustralian Government · AUUniversity of Wollongong · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

lay abstractAutistic adults have more health problems then their same-aged peers. Yet little research has been conducted that focuses on addressing these health problems. In order to guide future research, it is important to know what intervention studies have been done to improve health outcomes among autistic adults. The project team and student assistants read studies that were published between 2007 and 2018 in the online research database, PubMed. We looked for studies published in English, which were peer-reviewed and included (1) an intervention, (2) an outcome that was related to health, and (3) a study group that included autistic adults. We did not include studies that had outcomes about employment (unless there was a health outcome), studies about caregivers or caregiving, or expert opinions about interventions. Of 778 reviewed articles, 19 studies met all of the criteria above. Within these studies, two approaches were found to have emerging evidence for their use in autistic adults: cognitive behavioral interventions and mindfulness-based approaches for improved mental health outcomes. The remaining intervention approaches did not have enough articles to support their use. Many of the outcomes were about reduced symptoms of co-occurring mental health diagnoses (e.g. reduced anxiety, depression). Most of the participants in these studies were male and did not have intellectual disability. Most study participants were adults younger than 40. There are not many intervention studies that address health outcomes among autistic adults. More research is needed on interventions which are desired by the adult autism community and address preferred health outcomes such as increased quality of life or well-being.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderHealth StatusAdultAnxietyHumansMaleOutcome Assessment, Health CareQuality of Lifeadultautism spectrum disorderinterventionsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID32390461
PMCPMC7787674
OpenAlexW3023076213

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.