effect of massage on improving the sleep quality of children with autism spectrum disorders: a scoping review

Globally, there is an increase in the number of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (asd), which is also associated with sleep and emotional problems that impact symptom severity. the prevalence rate of sleep difficulties ranges from 40% to 86% (aged 6-9 years). in addition, current evidence for complementary therapies in treating sleep problems for asd is not sufficient; therapy tends to still involve pharmacological treatment. the present scoping review aimed to investigate the effects of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in children with asd. this review process was reported following the prisma framework and critical appraisal used ebsco, pubmed, cochrane library, scopus, and hand-searching databases published from 2000 to 2021. studies were selected based on the inclusion criteria using the pico [p (population), children with autism spectrum disorder; i (indicator/intervention), massage; o (outcome), sleep]. according to the literature review, 42.87% of the selected articles (three out of seven) reported that massage therapy improves sleep quality, with various massage methods showing effectiveness in addressing the sleep problems experienced by children with asd. massage therapy is conducted by a therapist or a parent, lasting for 15 minutes on average and being conducted every night before sleep for 1-5 months. massage therapy has been recommended not only to improve the sleep quality of children with asd aged 2-12 years, but also to positively impact the overall well-being of these children. massage therapy is a modality worthy of further exploration in children with asd.