Remote microphone systems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: a scoping review.

Abstract

Purpose: To map the literature on the use of the Remote Microphone System (RMS) in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Methods: Scoping Review following the Joanna Briggs Institute recommendations and PRISMA-ScR checklist. Search was carried out in the databases: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Lilacs, and gray literature, including Google Scholar and ProQuest, as well as reference lists of included studies and expert consultations. Intervention studies with children and adolescents with ASD using RMS were included, without gender, language, age, publication time, ethnicity, or geographical location restrictions.

Results: 709 studies were identified in phase 1. After reviewing 14 full texts with eligibility, eight studies were eligible. Studies were heterogeneous in the RMS model (personal or free field), applied tests, intervention period, and location. Improvement in speech perception, social interaction, behavior, attention, auditory memory, noise tolerance, stress reduction, and modification in neural activity through electrophysiological evaluation were observed.

Conclusion: Using RMS demonstrated benefits in speech perception, social interaction, and behavior in adolescents and children with ASD. Further studies are needed to define protocols and indication parameters in this population.