Usefulness of NESA Microcurrents in the Treatment of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Utility of NESA Microcurrents in the Treatment of Sleep Disturbances, Disruptive Behaviours of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders and in the Quality of Life of the Family Unit.

The term or definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) defines a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder in which deficits in communication and social interaction, altered sensorimotor behaviours, repetitive, restricted and stereotyped interests and activities are observed.

One of the disorders most frequently associated with ASD, and which most affects the quality of life of the child and his or her family, is sleep disorders; it is estimated that between 50 and 80 percent of children with ASD present this alteration and generally continue to suffer from it in adolescence and adulthood; It has also been observed that there is a correlation between sleep problems and an increase in aggressive behaviour, social and emotional deficits and deficits in activities of daily living, which severely affects the child and his or her close family environment; they become emotionally destabilised in a notorious way, and this has a negative impact on their work and productive environment.

The microcurrents generated by the non-invasive neuromodulation device introduce, by means of a non-invasive technique (surface electrodes), electrical energy to normalise the nervous stimulus. This makes it an excellent complementary treatment to the activity of rehabilitation treatment. Its effects are achieved by establishing several input nerve pathways corresponding to the body's dermis, through which the signals are intellectualised in time-space. These signals are the basis for achieving normalisation of the nerve impulse by means of microcurrents.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Non-invasive Neuromodulation; Device: Placebo Non-invasive Neuromodulation

Detailed Description

The main objective will be to test the influence of surface neuromodulation applied NESA on sleep disturbances in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and how this is related to disruptive behaviours and quality of life in the family environment.

It is estimated to take 8 months from the design, management and development of the project, and does not have sources of funding.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Las Palmas
    • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain, 35016
      • University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder, attending school in the City of San Juan de Dios in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
• Children with symptoms related to sleep disturbances.
• Children who present episodes of disruptive behaviour.
• Children who may present sensory alterations or cognitive deficits.
• Children whose parents sign the informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Present some of the contraindications for treatment with NESA XSIGNAL®: pacemakers, internal haemorrhages, not applying electrodes on skin in poor condition, with ulcerations or wounds, acute febrile processes, acute thrombophlebitis and/or phobia of electricity.
• If parents do not sign the informed consent form.
• Presence of uncontrolled convulsions.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Non-invasive Neuromodulation; Intervention with electrical stimulation: application of 6 electrodes per extremity and an adhesive electrode at C7 level.	Device: Non-invasive Neuromodulation; Patients receive non-invasive neurostimulation through the Nesa device
Placebo Comparator: Placebo Non-invasive Neuromodulation; Intervention with electrical stimulation: application of 6 electrodes per extremity and an adhesive electrode at C7 level.	Device: Placebo Non-invasive Neuromodulation; The same protocol described for the experimental group will be applied, but electrical stimulation device which will be previously manipulated and tested with an oscilloscope so that they do not emit electrical currents.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in sleep quality with the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC)	The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) will be used. The SDSC is a 26-item scale developed to assess the presence of sleep difficulties in children within the previous six months. The measure is completed by the parent of the child and takes approximately 5-10 min to complete. Item 1 measures the child's average hours of sleep, from 1 ('9 - 11 h') to 5 ('less than 5 h').	Measurement of change: before treatment (baseline), at two months (end of treatment).
Measuring sleep habits with the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire scale	Each scored question is rated on a 3-point scale as occurring "usually" (i.e., 5-7 times within the past week), "sometimes" (i.e., 2-4 times within the past week), or "rarely" (i.e., never or 1 time within the past week).	Measurement of change: before treatment (baseline), at two months (end of treatment).
Change in parent´s sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)	The investigators want to see if there are improvements in the quality, efficiency, and quantity of sleep. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) will be combined to report changes in the patient's sleep quality. Each of the sleep components yields a score ranging from 0 to 3, with 3 indicating the greatest dysfunction. The sleep component scores are summed to yield a total score ranging from 0 to 21 with the higher total score (referred to as global score) indicating worse sleep quality. Adding up the average scores of the seven factors gives a global PSQI score from 0 to 21, with 0-4 indicating "good" sleep and 5-21 indicating "poor" sleep	Measurement of change: before treatment (baseline), at two months (end of treatment).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes to the Register of Disruptive Behaviour Scores with the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC-C)	The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC-C) is a 58-item rating scale derived by factor analysis, and its five subscales are labelled as follows: I- Irritability (15 items); II- inactivity-isolation (16 items); III- stereotypies (7 items); IV- Hyperactivity, non-compliance (16 items) and V- inappropriate language (4 items). The ABC-C is easy to use, it is completed by an informant such as a teacher, therapist, monitor, parent or other adult who has regular contact with the patient. Each behavioural item is rated on a four-point scale from 0 (not a problem) to 3 (problem is severe).	Measurement of change: before treatment (baseline), at two months (end of treatment).
Change in the stress level of parents with the Change in the stress level of parents	The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) is one of the most commonly used measures of parenting stress both in clinical and research contexts. The PSI-SF is a 36-item, self-report measure with three subscales: Parental Distress (PD), Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction (PCDI), and Difficult Child (DC). To compute the parental stress score, items 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, and 18 should be reverse scored as follows: (1=5) (2=4) (3=3) (4=2) (5=1). The item scores are then summed. Parental stress scores range from 18 to 90, with lower scores indicating lower levels of parental stress.	Measurement of change: before treatment (baseline), at two months (end of treatment).
Change in parental satisfaction with the Parent Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ - FS)	The 19-item PSQ assesses parents' cognitions and perceptions regarding the degree and kind of support they provide to their child following the discovery of sexual abuse. The measure yields a total score and scores on Support and Blame subscales	Measurement of change: before treatment (baseline), at two months (end of treatment).

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recording of adverse phenomena	The responses experienced by the participant will be observed during the session. As the procedure is sensory imperceptible and easy to handle, it will allow the participant to carry out activities (school/rehabilitation) simultaneously.	From the start of treatment to the end of treatment (2 months)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Aníbal Báez Suárez, PhD, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Parr J. Autism. BMJ Clin Evid. 2010 Jan 7;2010:0322.
• Moss AH, Gordon JE, O'Connell A. Impact of sleepwise: an intervention for youth with developmental disabilities and sleep disturbance. J Autism Dev Disord. 2014 Jul;44(7):1695-707. doi: 10.1007/s10803-014-2040-y.
• Souders MC, Zavodny S, Eriksen W, Sinko R, Connell J, Kerns C, Schaaf R, Pinto-Martin J. Sleep in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017 Jun;19(6):34. doi: 10.1007/s11920-017-0782-x.
• Hirata I, Mohri I, Kato-Nishimura K, Tachibana M, Kuwada A, Kagitani-Shimono K, Ohno Y, Ozono K, Taniike M. Sleep problems are more frequent and associated with problematic behaviors in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Res Dev Disabil. 2016 Feb-Mar;49-50:86-99. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2015.11.002. Epub 2015 Dec 10.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 13, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 13, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): July 13, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 13, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 13, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): May 16, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 22, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Quality of Life; sleep disorder; physical therapy modality
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
• Other Study ID Numbers: NESATEA

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No