Effects of exercise on core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis
Qingyuan Li, Zufeiya Tuerdi, Bo Li, Huiwen Guan, Wenqing Zhang, Yiyi Wang, Yanmeng He · 2026
Read Effects of exercise on core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis by Qingyuan Li, Zufeiya Tuerdi, Bo Li, Huiwen Guan, Wenqing Zhang, Yiyi Wang, Yanmeng He (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13551754.txt.
Description
Qingyuan Li, leading six colleagues, published a 2026 systematic review and three-level meta-analysis of exercise for core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder. Evidence had been inconclusive, so the team searched six databases for randomized trials and rated bias with a standard Cochrane tool. Twenty studies with 874 children qualified for synthesis.
Moderate-certainty evidence showed a significant improvement in core symptoms with exercise in the reported pooled estimate. Evidence for benefits lasting after programs ended was low-certainty and not statistically significant. Child age and the type of comparison condition changed effect sizes, while exercise type, session length, and frequency did not. Neither total volume nor weekly duration showed a dose pattern, leaving open how best to prescribe activity.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Qingyuan Li, Zufeiya Tuerdi, Bo Li, Huiwen Guan, Wenqing Zhang, Yiyi Wang, Yanmeng He |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 80859 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |