The incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is increasing year by year, placing a huge economic and emotional burden on society and families. Exercise is an effective behavioural intervention. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of different exercise modalities on the abnormal behavioural performance of ASD.A network meta-analysis of published studies related to exercise interventions for ASD was performed by searching PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EBSCO, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP database with a time period up to July 2024. A total of 63 studies were considered eligible for inclusion, including 2,231 patients with ASD. According to the SUCRA ranking, it can be inferred that sports games (70.9), horseback riding therapy (84.8) are more effective in alleviating the severity of autism and social communication deficits in ASD. Exercise can effectively improve social adaptability, motor skills, static balance, sensory abnormalities, emotional problems, quality of life, and executive function. The meta-analysis results showed that the effect of ASD exercise intervention for more than 12 weeks was significantly higher than that for less than 12 weeks. In cycles of more than 12 weeks, the frequency of more than 3 times per week is significantly higher than that of less than 3 times, with each session lasting more than 60 minutes but higher than that of less than 60 minutes. Sports games, horseback riding are the optimal choices for ASD physical activity interventions. The best dosage for ASD exercise intervention involves interventions lasting over 12 weeks, with sessions at least three times per week, each lasting 60 minutes or longer.

Lyu Bingchen, Ma De, Ba Yi, Liu Niu, Xue Yaqi. Network meta-analysis of the effects of different exercise therapies on autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Medical Science Research (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 5: 69-81. https://doi.org/10.25236/FMSR.2025.070508.

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