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CLINICAL TRIAL article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Occupational Therapy
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1473328
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinical Trials: Design, Methods, and Analysis View all articles

Improving water competency among children on the autism spectrum: The AquOTic randomized controlled trial

Provisionally accepted
Erika Kemp Erika Kemp Melica Nikahd Melica Nikahd Mequeil Howard Mequeil Howard Amy Darragh Amy Darragh Jewel E. Crasta Jewel E. Crasta *
  • The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: There is a critical need for evidence-based and manualized interventions targeting water competency including swim and water safety skills tailored to meet the needs of children on the autism spectrum, a group that is at a high risk of drowning. This study examined the efficacy of AquOTic -a 10-week occupational therapy-based aquatic intervention to improve water competency among children on the autism spectrum. Clinical Trials Registration: NCT05524753. Methods: A total of 37 children on the autism spectrum (ages 5 -9 years) were randomized to a waitlist control group (n=24) or AquOTic intervention group (n=37; 28 males). Blinded assessors administered the standardized Water Orientation Test-Alyn (WOTA) 1 and 2 and a Swim Skills Checklist to all participants pre-and post-AquOTic/control. Repeated measures mixed effects models were used to examine intervention effects. Results: Average WOTA 1 scores increased significantly after participants received AquOTic (∆=5.7; 95% CI: 3.7-7.8; p<0.001), and average WOTA 2 scores increased significantly after participants received AquOTic (∆=9.0; 95% CI: 5.7-12.3; p<0.001). Average swim skills increased significantly after participants received AquOTic (∆=7.6; 95% CI: 5.3, 10.0; p<0.001). Conclusion: Our results highlight the efficacy of AquOTic to improve water competency among children on the autism spectrum. Further research is needed to examine long-term effects, dosage requirements to achieve water competency, and the impact of aquatic therapy on other health outcomes.

    Keywords: autism, swim skills, AquOTic, Water competency, intervention

    Received: 30 Jul 2024; Accepted: 13 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kemp, Nikahd, Howard, Darragh and Crasta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jewel E. Crasta, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.