NCT04762290

Dance for Children With Autism

Completed NA Last updated 16 April 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Dance in Neurodevelopmental Disorders in 35 participants. Completed in 31 August 2024.

Timeline

31 January 2021

Primary endpoint
30 August 2024

31 August 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of California, Los Angeles
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	other
Enrollment	35
Start date	31 January 2021
Primary completion	30 August 2024
Estimated completion	31 August 2024
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Dance

Conditions studied

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders — all drugs for Neurodevelopmental Disorders →

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Who can join

Adults 8 to 12, any sex, with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Motor impairments are prominent in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopment disorders, and these impairments often impact the individual's ability to engage in organized physical activity programs (OPA). While many studies have identified dance and creative movement to be retrospectively and anecdotally therapeutic, there remains a paucity of literature regarding outcomes associated with these programs, and specifically, their impact on (1) perceived and objective gross and fine motor skills, (2) perceived ability to succeed in related or divergent goals or tasks, (3) quality of life for affected individuals and their caregivers. (4) adaptive function and socialization, (5) social communication

This study explores the impact of organized dance and creative movement classes on children with autism (ages 8-12) and their caregivers. Participants will complete a set of surveys and assessments designed to measure the above metrics (labeled 1, 2, and 3) at their first study visit. This initial assessment is expected to take place within two weeks prior to beginning the intervention (either a wait period or a series of 1-hour dance classes, which children will attend weekly for 10 weeks). The second and final study visit will consist of a similar set of surveys and assessments designed to measure the same metrics within the two weeks following completion of the dance class series. Participants who have completed the wait period at this point will then begin their set of 10 weekly dance classes. Expected duration of participation in the study is no longer than 14 weeks in total.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. A novel dance intervention program for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities: a pilot randomized control trial.
   Anderson JT, Toolan C, Coker E, Singer H, et al · · 2024 · cited 2× · PMID 38745176 · DOI 10.1186/s13102-024-00897-3
2. The impact of a pilot dance intervention program for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities: a randomized control trial
   Anderson J, Toolan C, Coker E, Singer H, et al · · 2023 · DOI 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3256683/v1