Background/Purpose Adapted physical activity researchers (e.g., Reid & Bouffard, in press) recommended using scientific evidence to support program decisions; this is referred to as “evidence-based practice” (EBP). One way to determine the credibility of a study and if a specific practice should be deemed evidence-based, is to evaluate the methodological rigor of the research by assessing the presence of quality indicators. The purpose of the study was to: (a) conduct a quality indicator analysis to determine if the effects of antecedent exercise on self-stimulatory behaviors of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can be interpreted as EBP and (b) assess the clarity of the quality indicators.
Method Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), Google Scholar, SPORTDiscus, PsychINFO, and PubMed/MedLine databases from 1980 to October 2010 and reference lists of included articles were searched. Twelve research studies that met predetermined criteria were grouped by methodology into group-experimental design (Gersten et al., 2005) and single-subject design (Horner et al., 2005). Each study was assessed for the presence and clarity of quality indicators.
Analysis/Results None of the group-design studies met the criteria to be considered practical for use EBP. In the single-subject designs, the average number of quality indicators met was 83%, ranging from 70% (14/20) to 95% (19/20). Some of the quality indicators were difficult to interpret and lacked clear definitions.
Conclusions The quality indicator analysis suggests research on the effects of antecedent exercise on self-stimulatory behaviors of individuals with ASD is incomplete with regards to EBP. Recommendations for clarifying and applying the quality indicators are offered.
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