BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Digital Mental Health
This article is part of the Research TopiceHealth and Personalized Medicine in Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Digital Innovation for Diagnosis, Care, and Clinical ManagementView all 18 articles
Feasibility of One-Month Home-Based HRV Monitoring in ASD: A Case Study Using Smart Clothing Technology
Provisionally accepted
Soichiro Matsuda*
Yurina Shinohara- University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
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Background: Sleep disturbances and autonomic dysregulation are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet few studies have examined long-term nocturnal heart rate variability (HRV) in home settings. Objective: This study evaluated the feasibility of one-month home-based HRV monitoring using smart clothing in a preschooler with ASD, and explored whether nocturnal HRV predicts next-day problem behaviors. Methods: HRV was recorded nightly for 25 valid days using a garment-type wearable ECG. Problem behaviors were reported daily by caregivers. HRV indices were compared between nights preceding days with and without problem behaviors using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results: No significant differences in total sleep time or HRV indices were found between the two day types. Conclusion: Although HRV did not predict next-day behavior, the study demonstrates the feasibility and methodological transparency of long-term home-based physiological monitoring in young children with ASD.
Keywords: autism spectrum disorder (ASD)1, digital mental health6, Heart rate variability (HRV)2, home-based monitoring5, personalized care7, Smart clothing3, Wearable sensing4
Received: 07 Nov 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Matsuda and Shinohara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Soichiro Matsuda
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.