Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-based therapeutic interventions on individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive meta-analysis

We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis for evaluating the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) on the rehabilitation and training of individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. After a systematic search and targeted screening, 33 articles were analyzed. Results revealed that individuals undergoing VR training have remarkable improvements with a large effect size (g= 0.76). Furthermore, the results of the analysis of different skills indicated diverse effectiveness. The strongest effect was observed for daily living skills (g=1.23). This effect was moderate for other skills: g=0.45 for Cognitive skills, g=0.47 for Emotion Recognition skills, and g=0.67 for Social and Communication skills. In conclusion, the application of VR-based settings in clinical practice is highly encouraged, though their standardization and customization need more research.