Objective: This study aims to statistically clarify the association between disability characteristics and school refusal in school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Methods: The subjects were 158 school-aged children with ASD who were prescribed rehabilitation at Narita Hospital of International University of Health and Welfare. The following information was collected from medical records: presence or absence of school refusal, age, gender, the Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ) scores, result of the Wechsler Intelligence Test 4th version, the Sensory Profile (SP) scores, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents scores, decline in family functions, bullying, and enrolled class. Poisson regression analysis was conducted using both crude and adjusted models. School refusal was the dependent variable, while ASQ and SP subcategories were the independent variables. Age and other factors were used as covariates in the adjusted model.

Results: The “sensory avoidance” of the SP subcategory was significantly associated with school refusal in both the crude and adjusted models (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.01-1.05, 1.03, 1.00-1.05, respectively).

Conclusion: Analysis of the association between disability characteristics and school refusal in school-aged children with ASD suggests that sensory processing deficits are associated with school refusal.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the clinical characteristics of patients achieving independent gait through Robot-Assisted Gait Training, based on their condition at the onset of the training.

Methods: The subjects were patients after stroke who underwent 4 weeks of gait training using the Hybrid Assistive Limb^® (HAL, Cyberdyne, Inc.). The assessment items were Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), Stroke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) for lower extremity, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised (HDS-R). Patients with a FAC score of 3 or higher were classified as the independent group, while those with a FAC score of 2 or lower were classified as the assistance group. A univariate analysis was conducted with a significance level set at 5%.

Results: Ten patients were in the independent group (mean age 73.2±13.8 years), while 7 patients were in the assistance group (mean age 83.6±6.1 years). The independent group demonstrated significantly higher scores in SIAS total score, BBS, FIM, and HDS-R (p<0.05). Additionally, the SIAS subscales assessing knee joint function, lower limb range of motion, abdominal muscle strength, verticality, and quadriceps muscle strength on the non-paralyzed side were all significantly higher in the independent group (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Patients achieving independent gait through training with HAL were younger, exhibited lower levels of functional disability, demonstrated better balance, and showed a greater capacity to perform activities of daily living and cognitive function.