ReviewHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2025
Mini-Basketball for Preschool and School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Review in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effects of exercise on core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Play, physical activity, and exercise interventions for behavioral and social outcomes in autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review.Journal of exercise rehabilitation · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough the participation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in team sports presents challenges, group-based physical activities could offer specific benefits for their core symptoms. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to analyze the benefits of mini-basketball for children with ASD.
methodsA systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251144800). Four databases (Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched to select randomized controlled trials reporting the effects of mini-basketball interventions on children with ASD from their inception to August 2025.
resultsEight randomized controlled trials involving 436 participants (aged 3-12 years, 87.3% male) met the inclusion criteria. All studies were conducted in China using 12-week interventions (40-45 min, 2-5 days/week at moderate intensity). The quality was rated as good in two studies and fair in six. Five studies assessed social responsiveness, with four showing significant pre-post reductions in the experimental groups and all demonstrating superior outcomes versus those of the controls. One study reported significant reductions in repetitive behaviors, self-injurious behaviors, and restricted behaviors compared to that of the controls. Joint attention improvements were observed through eye-tracking measures, with increased fixation counts, shorter time to first fixation, and more accurate gaze shifts. Physical fitness benefits included improved shuttle run times and standing long jump performance. Finally, one study demonstrated better inhibition control and improvements in sleep quality, including increased sleep duration and efficiency.
conclusionsMini-basketball interventions can improve social responsiveness and related outcomes in children with ASD. These findings support mini-basketball as a feasible, safe, and effective intervention that could be integrated with existing therapeutic approaches.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.