829
document
Naltrexone and communication skills in young children with autism . OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of naltrexone on communication skills of young children with autism . METHOD Twenty-four children with autism , 3.0 to 8.3 years old ( mean 5.1 ) who were living at home and attending appropriate school programs , participated in a randomized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , crossover trial . Naltrexone , 1.0 mg/kg , or placebo was administered daily for 2 weeks . Communication was evaluated from videotaped samples of seminaturalistic parent-child interaction . Child and parent language were assessed using similar measures . RESULTS In this heterogeneous sample , the median number of words the child produced on placebo was 9.5 ( range 0-124 ) . The median proportion of utterances with echolalia was 0.16 . No differences were found between the naltrexone and placebo conditions in any of the measures of children or parents ' communication . Significant correlations were found between the child 's number of words and developmental quotient ( Spearman rho = 0.58 , p = .003 ) and between the child 's and parent 's number of words ( rho = 0.55 , p = .005 ) . CONCLUSIONS Previous studies showed that naltrexone was associated with modest reduction in hyperactivity and restlessness in this group of children with autism . In this short-term study , the medication did not lead to improvement in communication , a core deficit of autism .
830
Intervention_Pharmacological
Naltrexone
831
Intervention_Pharmacological
naltrexone
832
Intervention_Pharmacological
Naltrexone
833
Intervention_Control
placebo
834
Intervention_Educational
videotaped samples of seminaturalistic parent-child interaction
835
Intervention_Pharmacological
naltrexone
836
Intervention_Control
placebo
837
Intervention_Pharmacological
naltrexone
838
Outcome_Mental
median number of words the child produced
839
Outcome_Mental
median proportion of utterances with echolalia
840
Outcome_Mental
children or parents ' communication
841
Outcome_Mental
child 's number of words
842
Outcome_Mental
developmental quotient
843
Participant_Condition
autism
844
Participant_Age
young children
845
Participant_Condition
with autism .
846
Participant_Sample-size
Twenty-four
847
Participant_Condition
autism