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Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and Tomatis sound therapy in children with autism spectrum disorder
Mohamed M El-Tellawy1, Ahmad Roshdy Ahmad1, Khaled Saad2
1Departments of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia; Departments of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
Insights
Combining hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and Tomatis sound therapy (TST) shows superior results for improving autism symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Further research is needed to confirm these findings.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects children globally, necessitating diverse therapeutic interventions.
- Previous research explored various treatments, but evidence for specific therapies like HBOT and TST in ASD remains under investigation.
- An Egyptian cohort of children with ASD was selected to evaluate novel therapeutic approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and Tomatis sound therapy (TST) as standalone and combined interventions for children with ASD.
- To compare the effectiveness of HBOT, TST, and their combination against a control group receiving no intervention.
- To provide preliminary evidence on the benefits of combined HBOT and TST for improving core autism symptoms.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, open-label, randomized controlled trial was conducted with 146 children diagnosed with ASD.
- Participants were randomly assigned to four groups: HBOT, TST, combined HBOT and TST, or a control group.
- Autism symptoms were evaluated using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) before and after the intervention period.
Main Results:
- The combination of TST and HBOT demonstrated a statistically significant superior effect in reducing autism symptoms compared to either therapy alone (p < 0.001).
- Children receiving combined therapy showed a greater improvement in CARS scores post-intervention.
- While individual therapies showed some benefit, the combined approach yielded the most pronounced positive outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The combination of Tomatis sound therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy appears to be a promising approach for improving autism symptoms in children with ASD.
- While current evidence is preliminary and debated, this study suggests a potential benefit of combined therapy.
- Further research with robust designs and consistent outcome measures is recommended to validate these findings and explore optimal therapeutic strategies for ASD.
Abstract:
Many therapeutic and dietary regimens have been studied for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the last three decades. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and Tomatis sound therapy (TST) in an Egyptian cohort of children with ASD. This study was a prospective, open label, randomized interventional clinical trial. One hundred forty-six children with ASD with no previous rehabilitation therapy were enrolled in our study. Patients were randomly divided into four groups: the first group received hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the second group received Tomatis sound therapy, the third group received a combination of both modalities, and the fourth group, the control group, received no intervention. We found that the combination of Tomatis sound therapy with hyperbaric oxygen therapy had a superior effect in improving autism symptoms than each intervention alone (CARS after therapy 35.04 ± 13.38 versus 49.34 ± 17.54 before the intervention, p < 0.001). The combination of both modalities may be helpful for children with ASD. The most distinctive evidence that supports the use of combination therapy for ASD is still controversial; however, our study provides some evidence of the benefit of combination therapy for children with ASD. Future studies should use a more sophisticated research design and begin by finding a consistent baseline measure that can be used to evaluate the effects of these therapies for ASD.
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