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[Telerehabilitation of Subjects with Neurodevelopmental Disorders During Confinement due to COVID-19]
Esteban Vaucheret Paz1, Mariana Giacchino1, Mariana Leist1
1Servicio de Neurología Infantil, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Insights
Remote telerehabilitation significantly improved cognitive and functional skills in children with neurodevelopmental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. This safe alternative therapy enhanced attention, executive functions, visuospatial skills, and language, with high parent satisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Context:
- COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote healthcare solutions.
- Traditional face-to-face therapy was inaccessible for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
- Telerehabilitation emerged as a crucial alternative for continuous care.
Purpose:
- To analyze the efficacy of remote cognitive rehabilitation in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
- To assess improvements in cognitive and functional domains following telerehabilitation.
- To evaluate parent satisfaction and perception of the therapeutic tool.
Summary:
- A prospective, quasi-experimental study involving 22 children with neurodevelopmental disorders over six months of telerehabilitation.
- Significant improvements were observed in attention, executive functions, visuospatial skills, and language.
- Positive correlations were found between session frequency and improvements in specific cognitive areas.
Impact:
- Telerehabilitation offers a safe and effective alternative for pediatric neurodevelopmental disorder treatment.
- The study demonstrates significant cognitive and functional gains, supporting its integration into therapeutic strategies.
- High parental satisfaction indicates the feasibility and acceptance of telerehabilitation in this population.
Introduction:
Social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many children with neurodevelopmental disorders from accessing face-to-face treatments. Telerehabilitation grew at this time as an alternative therapeutic tool. In this study we analysed remote cognitive rehabilitation in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Methods:
This was a prospective, quasi-experimental (before-after) study that included 22 patients (mean age 9.41 years) with neurodevelopmental disorders who had telerehabilitation for over six months.
Results:
After six months of telerehabilitation, a statistically significant improvement was found with a large effect size in these areas: attention (sustained, selective and divided), executive functions (verbal and visual working memory, categorisation, processing speed), visuospatial skills (spatial orientation, perceptual integration, perception, simultanagnosia) and language (comprehensive and expressive). On the Weiss Functional Impairment Scale, all areas (family, learning and school, self-concept, activities of daily living, risk activities) improved with statistical significance. We found a positive correlation between the number of sessions and the improvement observed in executive functions (visual working memory, processing speed), attention (sustained attention, divided attention) and visuospatial skills (spatial orientation, perceptual integration, perception, simultanagnosia). We did not find statistical significance between the family structure and the number of sessions carried out. A high degree of perception of improvement and satisfaction was observed in the parents.
Conclusions:
Telerehabilitation is a safe alternative tool which, although it does not replace face-to-face therapy, can achieve significant cognitive and functional improvements in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
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