Randomised controlled trial of improvisational music therapy's effectiveness for children with autism spectrum disorders (TIME-A): study protocol

BMC Pediatrics

Study Protocol

Ulla Holck¹  Monika Geretsegger²  Christian Gold³ 

[1] Aalborg University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg Øst, Denmark;Aalborg University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg Øst, Denmark;University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology, Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and Intervention, Vienna, Austria;Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre (GAMUT), Uni Health, Uni Research, Bergen, Norway;

关键词: Autism Spectrum Disorder;    Autism Spectrum Disorder;    Joint Attention;    Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule;    Social Responsiveness Scale;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2431-12-2

 received in 2011-08-24, accepted in 2012-01-05,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPrevious research has suggested that music therapy may facilitate skills in areas typically affected by autism spectrum disorders such as social interaction and communication. However, generalisability of previous findings has been restricted, as studies were limited in either methodological accuracy or the clinical relevance of their approach. The aim of this study is to determine effects of improvisational music therapy on social communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorders. An additional aim of the study is to examine if variation in dose of treatment (i.e., number of music therapy sessions per week) affects outcome of therapy, and to determine cost-effectiveness.Methods/DesignChildren aged between 4;0 and 6;11 years who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Parents of all participants will receive three sessions of parent counselling (at 0, 2, and 5 months). In addition, children randomised to the two intervention groups will be offered individual, improvisational music therapy over a period of five months, either one session (low-intensity) or three sessions (high-intensity) per week. Generalised effects of music therapy will be measured using standardised scales completed by blinded assessors (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, ADOS) and parents (Social Responsiveness Scale, SRS) before and 2, 5, and 12 months after randomisation. Cost effectiveness will be calculated as man years. A group sequential design with first interim look at N = 235 will ensure both power and efficiency.DiscussionResponding to the need for more rigorously designed trials examining the effectiveness of music therapy in autism spectrum disorders, this pragmatic trial sets out to generate findings that will be well generalisable to clinical practice. Addressing the issue of dose variation, this study's results will also provide information on the relevance of session frequency for therapy outcome.Trial RegistrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN78923965.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Geretsegger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.