Effect of intranasal oxytocin combination therapy with applied behavior analysis on social impairments in pediatric’s children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Background: The use of oxytocin as a therapy to treat social deficiencies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is gaining popularity. This study aimed to determine oxytocin nasal spray’s effect in combination with applied behavior analysis (ABA) method in improving social impairments in pediatrics with ASD. Results: Our study’s main findings have revealed that intervention with INT-OXT compared to NS effectively reduced the ASD index and stereotyped behaviors on the GARS-2 scale (p < 0.05), in addition to teacher and parent’s SDQ mean score (p < 0.001). Also, during the follow-up time, the intervention with INT-OXT in ASD index, stereotyped behaviors, communication, social interaction, and parent and teacher mean SDQ scores were statically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In pediatrics with autism aged between 4 and 17 years, a 6-week course of INT-OXT combination therapy with ABA improved GARS-2 and teacher and parent SDQ scores compared to NS.