Clinical Study Undersea & hyperbaric medicine : journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Inc 2018

Effect of mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy on children diagnosed with autism.

Rizzato A, D'Alessandro N, Berenci E, Rinchi A, Enten G, Vezzani G, et al. — Undersea & hyperbaric medicine : journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Inc, 2018

View Original on PubMed PMID 31158930

Tier 2, Indexed

Automatically imported from PubMed based on relevance criteria.

Summary

What Researchers Did

Researchers evaluated the clinical, cognitive, and behavioral effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) on children diagnosed with autism using neurocognitive tests and clinical-diagnostic evaluations.

What They Found

The experimental HBO2 group (n=8) showed a significant decrease in total Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC) scores from 57.5 ± 19.01 at baseline to 50.38 ± 18.55 after treatment (p < 0.001). However, the control group (n=7) also saw a significant reduction in ABC scores from 103.6 ± 20.38 to 59 ± 25.25 (p < 0.05), leading researchers to conclude that HBO2 utility was not supported.

Canadian Relevance

This study has no direct Canadian connection.

Study Limitations

A significant limitation of this study is the very small sample size in both the experimental and control groups.

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Study Details

Study Type	Clinical Study
Category	Neurological
Source	Pubmed
PubMed ID	31158930
Year Published	2018
Journal	Undersea & hyperbaric medicine : journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Inc
MeSH Terms	Analysis of Variance; Autistic Disorder; Behavior Rating Scale; Case-Control Studies; Child; Diet; Female; Humans; Hyperbaric Oxygenation; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome

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Last reviewed: April 2, 2026 | Reviewed by: Canada Hyperbarics Editorial Team | Editorial process | Research sources | Counts & methodology