Navid Mirzakhani Araghi - Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Zahra Pashazadeh Azari - Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mehdi Alizadeh Zarei - Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza Akbarzadeh Baghban - Department of Basic Sciences, Proteomics Research Center, School of Rehabilitation, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shafagh Saei - Student Research Committee. Department of Occupational therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran.
Hamid Reza Yousefi Nodeh - Pediatric Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Azizeh Farshbafkhalili - Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Ebrahim Mahmoudi - School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Objectives: Sensory processing patterns can be related to children's preferences for various activities. Still, our understanding of how different sensory processing patterns are related to children's participation in leisure activities is fairly limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between sensory processing patterns and children's participation in leisure activities. Methods: In this systematic review, the PRISMA (The Preferred Reporting Items For Systematic Reviews And Meta-Analyses) Guidelines were followed. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Springer, ProQuest, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Medline, OT Seeker, SID, and Healio databases using the following keywords: “Participation”, “leisure”, “play”, “sensory processing”, “sensory integration”, “sensorimotor”, “sensory”, and “children”. A total of ۵۰۴۰ articles were found, of which ۵۰۲۷ were eliminated after the review, and finally, ۱۳ articles were included in the study based on the inclusion criteria; ۶ of them entered the meta-analysis process. The meta-analysis was performed using CMA software.  Results: The meta-analysis of ۶ studies illustrated a significant correlation between the energy level and desire to participate in leisure activities, the auditory-visual sensitivity and willingness to participate in leisure activities, the sensory processing patterns and the intensity of involvement in leisure activities, the general sensory processing and desire to participate in leisure activities, the sensory processing patterns and desire to participate in informal activities, the olfactory sensitivity and desire to participate in leisure activities, the auditory filtering and desire to participate in leisure activities, the sensory processing patterns and enjoyment of participation in leisure activities, and finally sensory processing patterns and desire to participate in recreational activities.  Discussion: The evidence in articles on sensory processing patterns and participation in play and leisure activities is inadequate. The only conclusion drawn from all patterns of sensory processing is the significant relationship between these patterns and the preference to participate in recreational activities (which is just one of the several leisure activities).

Children, Leisure, Participation, Play, Sensory processing