Introduction. Although play has been used as a means to meet therapeutic goals by health care practitioners for a long time, there is a need to continuously review its conceptualisation and use in everyday practice to promote evidence-based practice. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the evidence on how the play of children with Special Health Care Needs (SHCN) is similar or different to that of typically developing children. Methods. Guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement, we conducted a comprehensive review across five electronic databases for all studies that compared how the play of children with SHCN was similar or different to that of typically developing children. Data were extracted from the included studies, and methodological quality was assessed. Results. Eighteen studies met eligibility criteria. All the studies in this review were at risk of bias due to the study design. There was great variation in sample sizes, ranging between five and 112 participants in the diagnostic groups and five and 546 participants in control groups (typically developing children). The included studies investigated different aspects of play, which made it difficult to synthesise. However, of the 18 studies reviewed, thirteen reported that children with SHCN engage in less play, compared with typically developing children. Conclusions. Evidence supports the assumption that children with SHCN are less playful and spend less time engaging in play compared with typically developing children. This systematic review reveals paucity of research on play for children with several common chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Future studies need to reduce risks of bias, including the use of appropriate sample sizes, and must provide detailed results after investigating play in children with SHCN.

中文翻译：

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对有特殊医疗保健需求的儿童与正常发育儿童的游戏概况进行系统审查


介绍。尽管游戏长期以来一直被医疗保健从业者用作实现治疗目标的一种手段，但仍需要不断审查其概念及其在日常实践中的使用，以促进循证实践。本系统综述旨在评估有特殊医疗保健需求的儿童 (SHCN) 的游戏与正常发育儿童的游戏相似或不同的证据。方法。在系统评价和荟萃分析 (PRISMA) 声明的首选报告项目的指导下，我们对所有研究的五个电子数据库进行了全面审查，比较了 SHCN 儿童的游戏与正常发育儿童的相似或不同之处。从纳入的研究中提取数据，并评估方法学质量。结果。十八项研究符合资格标准。由于研究设计，本综述中的所有研究都存在偏倚风险。样本量差异很大，诊断组有 5 到 112 名参与者，对照组（通常是发育中的儿童）有 5 到 546 名参与者。纳入的研究调查了游戏的不同方面，这使得很难综合。然而，在审查的 18 项研究中，有 13 项报告称，与正常发育的儿童相比，患有 SHCN 的儿童玩耍较少。结论。有证据支持这样的假设：与正常发育的儿童相比，患有 SHCN 的儿童不太爱玩，花在玩耍上的时间也更少。这项系统综述揭示了对患有几种常见慢性病（例如艾滋病毒/艾滋病、癌症和心血管疾病）的儿童进行游戏的研究很少。 未来的研究需要减少偏倚风险，包括使用适当的样本量，并且必须在调查 SHCN 儿童的游戏后提供详细的结果。