Wearables and mobile technologies in Autism Spectrum Disorder interventions: A systematic literature review

Koumpouros, Yiannis; Kafazis, Theodoros

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2019.05.005

Cited by 79 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…The synthesis and linking of WTs to the ASD ICF Core-sets ( 8 ) and ICF-CY ( 16 ) shows that a number of physiological and behavioral functions, measured for a variety of purposes, across a range of contexts can be captured through the use of WTs. Through linking to the ASD ICF Core-sets ( 8 ) and ICF-CY ( 16 ), findings extend those presented by Koumpouros and Kafazis ( 15 ), enabling in-depth exploration of how WTs are used to measure functioning, abilities and disabilities in autistic youth. This collection of real-time physiological data during complex, everyday activity and participation enables a holistic view of an individual’s functioning, essential for deepening the understanding of ASD and its impacts, as well as in understanding an individual’s unique functioning profile.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…A range of WTs for autistic youth, measuring and targeting a variety of functions were identified in this review. Critically, this review identified and examined an additional 31 studies not reviewed by Koumpouros and Kafazis ( 15 ), enabling extension of their findings. While cumulatively, there is promising evidence to suggest that WTs may prove useful for measuring and supporting functioning in autistic youth, it is apparent that the use of WTs is in its infancy and requires additional investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent systematic review explored the use of WTs and mobile technologies for autistic individuals, finding that while promising, these technologies require additional investigation ( 15 ). It may be argued that there remains limited evidence and comprehensive understanding of the use of WTs for autistic individuals, and the functions that they measure and the contexts in which they are used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ASD ICF Core-sets may be particularly useful when examining the use of WTs, enabling a comprehensive exploration of how physiological and other functions (body functions) measured by WTs can provide insight into the abilities, disabilities and functional skills (activity and participation) of autistic youth within various contexts (environment). While the review by Koumpouros and Kafazis ( 15 ) explored both WT and mobile technology more generally, this review focuses specifically on WTs that are available to measure and support functioning in autistic youth, mapping the functions they measure according to the ICF Core Sets for ASD and the ICF-CY, enabling a comprehensive understanding of the use of WTs to assess abilities, disabilities, and functional skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The use of wearable technology to measure and support abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth: a scoping review

Black

Milbourn

Chen

et al. 2020

Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology

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Background: Wearable technology (WT) to measure and support social and non-social functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been a growing interest of researchers over the past decade. There is however limited understanding of the WTs currently available for autistic individuals, and how they measure functioning in this population. Objective: This scoping review explored the use of WTs for measuring and supporting abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth. Method: Four electronic databases were searched to identify literature investigating the use of WT in autistic youth, resulting in a total of 33 studies being reviewed. Descriptive and content analysis was conducted, with studies subsequently mapped to the ASD International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core-sets and the ICF Child and Youth Version (ICF-CY). Results: Studies were predominately pilot studies for novel devices. WTs measured a range of physiological and behavioural functions to objectively measure stereotypical motor movements, social function, communication, and emotion regulation in autistic youth in the context of a range of environments and activities. Conclusions: While this review raises promising prospects for the use of WTs for autistic youth, the current evidence is limited and requires further investigation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The use of wearable technology to measure and support abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth: a scoping review

Black

Milbourn

Chen

et al. 2020

Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many scientific fields would benefit from the adoption of WDs for long-term, unobtrusive recording of physiological signals. In particular, scientific use of WDs is explored in affective computing [37, 35], research on autism [46, 26], interpersonal coupling [3, 8] and psychology in general.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of wearable and clinical devices for acquisition of peripheral nervous system signals

Bizzego

Gabrieli

Furlanello

et al. 2020

Preprint

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A key access point to the functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System is the investigation of peripheral signals. Wearable Devices (WDs) enable the acquisition and quantification of peripheral signals in a wide range of contexts, from personal uses to scientific research. WDs have lower costs and higher portability than medical-grade devices. But achievable data quality can be lower, subject to artifacts due to body movements and data losses. It is therefore crucial to evaluate the reliability and validity of WDs before their use in research. In this study we introduce methods and scientific software for the assessment of WDs for multivariate physiological signals. The quality of cardiac and Electrodermal Activity signals is validated with a standard set of Signal Quality Indicators, available as open source in the pyphysio Python package. We apply the indicators for the analysis of signal quality on data simultaneously recorded from a clinical-grade device and two WDs. The dataset provides signals of 6 different physiological measures collected from 18 subjects with WDs. This study indicates the need of validating the use of WD in experimental settings for research and the importance of both technological and signal processing aspects to obtain reliable signals and reproducibility of results.

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Evaluating commercially available wireless cardiovascular monitors for measuring and transmitting real‐time physiological responses in children with autism

et al. 2021

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Commercially available wearable biosensors have the potential to enhance psychophysiology research and digital health technologies for autism by enabling stress or arousal monitoring in naturalistic settings. However, such monitors may not be comfortable for children with autism due to sensory sensitivities. To determine the feasibility of wearable technology in children with autism age 8–12 years, we first selected six consumer‐grade wireless cardiovascular monitors and tested them during rest and movement conditions in 23 typically developing adults. Subsequently, the best performing monitors (based on data quality robustness statistics), Polar and Mio Fuse, were evaluated in 32 children with autism and 23 typically developing children during a 2‐h session, including rest and mild stress‐inducing tasks. Cardiovascular data were recorded simultaneously across monitors using custom software. We administered the Comfort Rating Scales to children. Although the Polar monitor was less comfortable for children with autism than typically developing children, absolute scores demonstrated that, on average, all children found each monitor comfortable. For most children, data from the Mio Fuse (96%–100%) and Polar (83%–96%) passed quality thresholds of data robustness. Moreover, in the stress relative to rest condition, heart rate increased for the Polar, F(1,53) = 135.70, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.78, and Mio Fuse, F(1,53) = 71.98, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.61, respectively, and heart rate variability decreased for the Polar, F(1,53) = 13.41, p = 0.001, ηp2 = 0.26, and Mio Fuse, F(1,53) = 8.89, p = 0.005, ηp2 = 0.16, respectively. This feasibility study suggests that select consumer‐grade wearable cardiovascular monitors can be used with children with autism and may be a promising means for tracking physiological stress or arousal responses in community settings. Lay Summary Commercially available heart rate trackers have the potential to advance stress research with individuals with autism. Due to sensory sensitivities common in autism, their comfort wearing such trackers is vital to gathering robust and valid data. After assessing six trackers with typically developing adults, we tested the best trackers (based on data quality) in typically developing children and children with autism and found that two of them met criteria for comfort, robustness, and validity.

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Wearables and mobile technologies in Autism Spectrum Disorder interventions: A systematic literature review

Cited by 79 publications

References 91 publications

The use of wearable technology to measure and support abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth: a scoping review

The use of wearable technology to measure and support abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth: a scoping review

Comparison of wearable and clinical devices for acquisition of peripheral nervous system signals

Evaluating commercially available wireless cardiovascular monitors for measuring and transmitting real‐time physiological responses in children with autism

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