TOPIC

Paediatrics research

Everything we have read on paediatrics. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

2,466 PAPERS · PAGE 47 OF 50 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSystematic Review2026Varied effectiveness of outpatient rehabilitation interventions in reducing long-term complications following childhood brain tumours: a systematic review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesAfter treatment for a childhood brain tumour, rehabilitation most often helped movement: four of the five studies measuring balance, coordination, motor skills or daily living found gains, though every study was small. Cognitive outcomes did not improve in any study.
• PTOTSurvey2026Health Functioning Moderates the Association Between Chronic Conditions and Mental Illness in Childhood.Child: care, health and developmentChildren with a chronic condition were more than twice as likely to have a mood disorder, but not other mental illnesses. The link to anxiety, ADHD and any mental illness appeared only in children with better health functioning.
• OTSystematic Review2026Art Group Interventions for Children With Learning Differences: A Systematic Review.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthArt groups for children with learning differences show trends toward fewer hyperactive and impulsive behaviours and better self-expression, but most of these findings were not conclusive and came from weak studies. What goes into the session matters more than how long it runs.
• OTSLPOther2026"Disconnected From Everyone and Everything Around Them": A Mixed Method Study to Explore the Perspectives of Children With Language Difficulties and Their Caregivers On Mental Health Concerns and Mental Health Support.International journal of language & communication disordersMost of 120 caregivers of children with language difficulties (91%) had worried about their child's mental health, mainly anxiety, self-esteem and friendships, but 65% said their child had never had formal mental health support. Talk-based therapy was described as a poor fit.
• OTSurvey2025Sensory Processing Patterns in People With Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthAdults with upper-limb CRPS described their senses working differently from most people's: high sensitivity to sensation and strong avoidance of it, with those under 65 also saying they miss more sensory input than most. A one-time survey, so patterns, not causes or treatments.
• OTSLPCohort2026Predictors of Parent Engagement in Part C Early Intervention for Autism: The Role of Single Parenthood and Initial Motivation.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceSingle parents took a less active part in early intervention sessions than parents living with a partner, and parents who started more motivated practiced at home more often. Nothing measured predicted attendance, and the engagement measures did not track together.
• PTOTCohort2026Everyday positioning experience in typically developing infants and infants with or at risk for cerebral palsy.Research in developmental disabilitiesInfants with or at risk for CP spent more of the day on their back and much less standing than typically developing peers: at 12 months, 40% versus 14% of the day supine, and 8% versus 29% standing. Motor milestone delays did not explain it.
• OTCohort2025Descriptive evaluation of community based children's occupational therapy services using COPM.Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOTParents rated children's performance and satisfaction higher after community occupational therapy, with mean performance rising from 3.6 to 6.7 and satisfaction from 3.8 to 7.3 on a ten-point scale. More sessions did not mean more improvement, and there was no control group.
• OTCohort2026Time to Medication Initiation in School-age Children With ADHD in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPAbout 59% of school-age children diagnosed with ADHD in developmental-behavioral clinics were prescribed medication within a year, with a median wait of 4 days. Children waited longer if a psychologist diagnosed them, if they were Asian, or if they had co-occurring conditions.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Delivering Health Education to Children With Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review and Evidence and Gap Map.Child: care, health and developmentOnly 16 of 118 studies of health education for children with chronic conditions described any adaptation for children with disabilities, mostly for cognition. Most education taught disease facts face to face in hospital clinics, and few programmes were individualised or designed with children.
• OTSurvey2026Occupational Therapy for Children With DCD and Academic Difficulties: A Pan-Canadian Survey.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapieAlmost every Canadian OT surveyed (99%) assessed academic activities in children with DCD, but handwriting dominated (96% assessed, 85% treated), ahead of writing, maths and reading, even though maths difficulties affect up to 90%.
• OTQualitative2026The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Preschoolers With Disabilities: Occupational Therapists' Perspectives.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapieMost of the 11 Canadian occupational therapists had never heard of the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. Once shown them, they saw the advice as fitting their role, but called the daily hourly targets too rigid for children with disabilities and wanted a flexible resource.
• OTSystematic Review2026School and School-Related Experiences of Children and Adolescents With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Scoping Review.Child: care, health and developmentChildren with IBD miss more school than healthy peers: 24 days for Crohn's disease and 21 for colitis in one French sample, against 5.1 for controls. Symptoms and hospital appointments drive most of it. Grades were largely unaffected; school support and social life were not.
• OTSystematic Review2025Establishing Therapeutic Relationships with Immigrant Families of Disabled Children: A Scoping Review.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapieTherapists and immigrant families built trust through practical communication and collaboration, not through named cultural frameworks. Bilingual staff, interpreters, home visits, cultural brokers and shared goal-setting mattered most. Most strategies were therapist-led, which can keep families cast as the 'other'.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2026Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Interventions on Participation in Children and Adolescents With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationAround 840 children and teenagers with one-sided cerebral palsy improved on participation measures after rehabilitation, but no study compared therapy with no treatment, and no single therapy beat another.
• PTOTSLPOther2026Associations Between Comorbidities, Developmental Status, and Disease Severity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study in China.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn this Chinese cohort, 96.6% of 1279 autistic children had at least one other diagnosed condition: 87.3% intellectual or developmental disability, 45.3% food refusal, 16.9% insomnia. Children with these conditions tended to score higher for autism severity.
• OTQualitative2026The Early Movers Clinician's Guide: Co-Designing a Resource for the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines in Paediatric Occupational Therapy.Child: care, health and developmentOTs and caregivers said the 24-hour movement guidelines' time targets felt judgemental and one-size-fits-all, and its sitting and restraint language ignored children who need those supports. Their co-designed guide drops the numbers, leads with family goals, and comes in clinician and caregiver parts.
• PTOTSLPOther2026Maternal Responsiveness, Parenting Self-efficacy, and Economic Empowerment: Determinants of Infant Development in Pakistan.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPMore responsive, more confident mothers had lower odds of their baby showing developmental delay at six weeks, in communication, problem solving and personal-social skills. One check-up of 400 Pakistani mothers and babies, so it cannot show which came first.
• OTSLPCohort2026Feeding Therapy and its Relationship to Timing of Independent Oral Feeding for Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.Physical & occupational therapy in pediatricsPreterm infants referred to feeding therapy reached independent oral feeding 1.5 weeks later than those not referred, but they were also sicker and born earlier. Starting therapy earlier was linked to reaching full oral feeding slightly sooner. How often therapy happened made no difference.
• OTPilot2025Acceptability and feasibility of online occupational performance coaching for parents of children with disabilities in the UK.The British journal of occupational therapyParents and therapists found the online coaching acceptable, and parents scored their children's occupational performance and their own satisfaction higher afterwards. With no control group and only eight families, this does not show the coaching caused the change.
• OTQualitative2025Examining the clinical utility of the Occupational Therapy Observation Tool-Adjustment Support Details (OTOT-ASD): Experiences of paediatric occupational therapists.Australian occupational therapy journalSix experienced paediatric occupational therapists who trialled a companion observation form alongside standardised tests with autistic children said it sharpened their clinical reasoning and reporting. Time was the main problem, and only one of six thought it made assessments more accurate.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2026Exploring Health Care Providers, Families and Educators' Perceptions of an Online Self-Paced F-Words for Child Development Foundations Course.Child: care, health and developmentPeople who took the free, self-paced F-words course rated it highly (mean satisfaction 8.5 out of 10) and said they used the F-words in goal-setting and family conversations. Families, health care providers and educators asked for shorter videos and more interaction.
• OTOther2026Emotional and Behavioural Problems of Children and Youth With Intellectual Disabilities Following the February 6 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake: A Mixed-Methods Study.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDTeachers rated children with intellectual disabilities after the February 2023 Türkiye earthquakes highest for social, attention and thought problems, with boys rated higher than girls for aggression and rule-breaking. Drawings often omitted details, but nothing was measured before the earthquake.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2026Priorities and Perspectives Regarding Goals and Outcomes of Support for Autistic Children Under 12 Years: A Systematic Review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceThe goals that autistic adults, families and professionals ranked highest for autistic children were communication, mental well-being, autonomy and community inclusion. Reducing autistic traits, neurotypical social skills training and academic targets ranked lowest. Professionals still leaned towards social skills and spoken language.
• PTOTSLPPilot2026Exploring Treatment Expectations and Clinical Meaningfulness in Spinal Muscular Atrophy Using the Goal Attainment Scale.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationPeople with SMA asked to set their own goals most often chose independence in movement, upper limb strength and daily activities. Most of those goals matched items on the motor scales already in use.
• OTPilot2026A Geometric-Based Handwriting Intervention (GBHI) for Chinese Handwriting: Development, Feasibility, and Pilot Findings.Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOTHandwriting scores moved in the right direction after a 12-hour Chinese handwriting program, but with only 4 boys and no control group nothing reached significance. Eight children who tried one module rated it highly, though copying tasks were least liked.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Neonatal Therapy Interventions Supporting Oral Feeding Skills in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review.Physical & occupational therapy in pediatricsPreterm infants given oral motor stimulation, non-nutritive sucking, swallowing exercises or sensory-based therapy reached full oral feeding sooner than controls, by 4 to 9 days in the studies that found a difference. Effects on weight gain and length of stay were inconsistent.
• OTSystematic Review2026Preschool Hand Function Assessment Instruments: A Scoping Review With Targeted Analysis of Performance-Based Instruments.Occupational therapy international62 hand function assessments exist for preschool children, but none covers every hand function domain in a form that is culturally adaptable for low- and middle-income countries. Most come from high-income countries and only one covers most domains.
• OTOther2026Labour of Love: A Sequential Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study on the Impact of Caring for a Child With Dravet Syndrome.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR69% of parents caring for a child with Dravet syndrome scored in the clinical range for distress, and more behavioural difficulties in the child went with more distress. Parents felt more able to influence their child's healthcare than to manage their family life.
• OTQualitative2026Parents of youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Barriers experienced during transition.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineParents had to track down adult services themselves. There were no lists of day programs, long waitlists, too few staff, and placements that did not suit their child. School transition support was minimal and nothing was arranged in advance.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Safety and effectiveness of non-invasive brain stimulation on mobility and balance function in children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationNon-invasive brain stimulation plus other training improved walking distance, gait speed and gross motor scores in children with cerebral palsy; balance and Timed Up and Go did not improve. Stimulation was mostly combined with training, so its own contribution is unclear.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Limited Evidence of Functional Benefit After Upper Limb Botulinum Toxin Treatment in Children With Cerebral Palsy: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationBotulinum toxin into the upper limb lowers muscle tone and spasticity in children with cerebral palsy, and parents report improvement, but the arm does not clearly work better. Grip strength drops while the toxin is active.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effect of Active Video Games on Postural Balance.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationActive video games improved balance more than no treatment, and also more than conventional therapy, across 129 studies and 6407 participants. The average effect was modest, the included studies were mostly small and unblinded, and the authors found signs of publication bias.
• OTRCT2023A Randomized Clinical Trial Targeting Daily Living Skills in Autistic Adolescents Without an Intellectual Disability Before the Transition to Adulthood.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPAutistic teens in their last two years of high school gained more daily living skills from a 14-session programme than from a social skills group, on the overall score and on domestic skills. Personal care and community skills improved equally in both groups.
• OTMeta-Analysis2026Self-Compassion and Psychological Health of Parents: A Meta-Analysis Focused on Some Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Journal of autism and developmental disordersAcross 15 studies, parents of children with autism or intellectual disability who were kinder to themselves reported less anxiety, less depression, less parenting stress and better well-being. All 15 studies measured parents once, so this shows a link, not cause and effect.
• PTOTRCT2025Functioning and activity outcomes of the Akwenda Intervention Program for children and young adults with cerebral palsy in Uganda: A cluster-randomized trial.Developmental medicine and child neurologyTraining and supporting caregivers improved self-care, social function and, to a smaller degree, gross motor skills in children and young adults with cerebral palsy in rural Uganda. Children who waited a year for the program also improved, which the authors could not fully explain.
• OTRCT2025Understanding Repetitive Behaviours: A clinical and cost-effectiveness, multi-site randomised controlled trial of a group for parents and carers of young autistic children.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren's overall functioning improved no more after a parent programme on repetitive behaviours than after general autism psychoeducation. Children in the repetitive-behaviour arm were more likely to improve on the behaviour parents had targeted, but it cost more.
• OTRCT2023Depressive Symptoms in Autistic Youth with Anxiety Disorders.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP42.7% of autistic 7-13 year-olds with anxiety reported clinically elevated depressive symptoms, while only 20.2% of parents reported the same. Depression did not predict how well anxiety-focused CBT worked in this secondary analysis of a trial.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2023Telehealth Interventions to Promote Health and Behavior-Related Outcomes in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersJob-interview skills improved in all three studies that targeted them, but across 11 studies results for anxiety, depression, social skills and quality of life were inconsistent. Samples were small and most studies were at high risk of bias.
• OTRCT2022VR-based cognitive rehabilitation for children with traumatic brain injuries: Feasibility and safety.Rehabilitation psychologyA VR cognitive training game was safe and doable for children with TBI. Twenty-six children stuck with their assigned game, over 80% completed all measures, and the two who stopped for eye strain or headache recovered. Thinking-skill scores did not improve significantly.
• PTOTRCT2022Usage Patterns of an mHealth Symptom Monitoring App Among Adolescents With Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationTeens who used the concussion app logged their symptoms about nine times each but mostly stopped before the learning modules, so most got feedback without the education meant to help them act on it. Total app time averaged just over an hour.
• OTRCT2022Working memory training in children with borderline intellectual functioning and neuropsychiatric disorders: a triple-blind randomised controlled trial.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRAdaptive working memory training was no better than a placebo version of the same computer programme. Both groups improved on working memory, attention and parent-rated behaviour, but children with a low IQ and ADHD or ASD got no extra benefit.
• PTOTRCT2025Hand Functions Following Prone-weight Bearing on Upper Limb with Active Elbow Extension Versus Modified Constraint Induced Movement Therapy in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy - A Randomised Clinical Trial.NeuroRehabilitationIn 38 children with unilateral cerebral palsy aged 2 to 5, two weeks of prone weight-bearing on the arms improved hand-function scores more than modified constraint therapy did, though both improved. The weight-bearing group started lower and no one was followed up.
• PTOTRCT2025Lamotrigine for cognitive deficits associated with neurofibromatosis type 1: A phase II randomized placebo-controlled trial.Developmental medicine and child neurologyLamotrigine 200 mg a day for 26 weeks did not improve performance IQ or any other cognitive or behavioural measure in adolescents with NF1. The trial stopped early at 31 of a planned 60 participants, but the groups' scores barely differed.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2024Cognitive approaches in the rehabilitation of upper limbs function in children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineAdding action observation therapy to usual rehabilitation did not significantly improve upper limb function in children with cerebral palsy when five trials were pooled. Individual trials reported gains, and mirror therapy trials also reported improvements, but mirror therapy could not be pooled.
• OTRCT2024Behavioral Intervention that Extends Sleep Duration Leads to Greater Self-Control in School-Aged Children.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPChildren aged 8 to 11 who slept 9.5 hours or less a night and got a brief behavioural sleep programme slept longer and their caregivers rated them as more self-controlled than controls. Caregivers knew which group their child was in.
• PTOTRCT2022Changes in physical activity across a 6-month weight loss intervention in adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRActivity barely moved: moderate-to-vigorous activity rose about 4.5 minutes a day, from 15.2 to 19.7, and did not reach significance. Only 2 of 30 met the 60 minute a day goal at six months.
• PTOTRCT2025Early developmental trajectories of the impaired hand in infants with unilateral cerebral palsy.Developmental medicine and child neurologyWith early therapy, 63 infants with unilateral CP followed three paths of hand development: 29% barely improved, 35% improved steadily, 36% began high-functioning. Which therapy they got, the dose, the side affected and the brain lesion did not predict the path.
• OTRCT2022The online mindset intervention 'The Growth Factory' for adolescents with intellectual disabilities: moderators and mediators.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRAge, baseline mindset and level of intellectual disability did not change how much this six-session online mindset programme helped. Adolescents who rated it more satisfying showed bigger falls in emotional and behaviour problems, and gains in perseverance explained the emotional-problem improvement.
• OTSLPMeta-Analysis2021Fever during pregnancy as a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders: results from a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular autismChildren whose mothers had a fever during pregnancy were diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition more often (pooled odds 1.24). Fever in the first three months was linked; fever later on was not. Observational data, so this is an association, not proof of cause.