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Development of the Sensory Hypersensitivity Scale (SHS): a self-report tool for assessing sensitivity to sensory stimuli.

ABSTRACT: Sensory hypersensitivity is one manifestation of the central sensitization that may underlie conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. We conducted five studies designed to develop and validate the Sensory Hypersensitive Scale (SHS); a 25-item self-report measure of sensory hypersensitivity. The SHS assesses both general sensitivity and modality-specific sensitivity (e.g. touch, taste, and hearing). 1202 participants (157 individuals with chronic pain) completed the SHS, which demonstrated an adequate overall internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of 0.81, suggesting the tool can be used as a cross-modality assessment of sensitivity. SHS scores demonstrated only modest correlations (Pearson's r) with depressive symptoms (0.19) and anxiety (0.28), suggesting a low level of overlap with psychiatric complaints. Overall SHS scores showed significant but relatively modest correlations (Pearson's r) with three measures of sensory testing: cold pain tolerance (-0.34); heat pain tolerance (-0.285); heat pain threshold (-0.271). Women reported significantly higher scores on the SHS than did men, although gender-based differences were small. In a chronic pain sample, individuals with fibromyalgia syndrome demonstrated significantly higher SHS scores than did individuals with osteoarthritis or back pain. The SHS appears suitable as a screening measure for sensory hypersensitivity, though additional research is warranted to determine its suitability as a proxy for central sensitization.

SUBMITTER: Dixon EA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4854764 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundPrevious research using the Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ) has reported greater sensory hypersensitivity in people with autism spectrum condition (ASC) compared to controls, consistent with other research. However, current scoring of the SPQ does not differentiate between hyper and hyposensitivity, making it uncertain whether individuals with ASC might also show differences in hyposensitivity. Furthermore, no research to date has focused on sensory differences in females, and whether differences in sensory sensitivity extend to the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The present study aimed to fill these gaps.MethodsThe present study developed and validated a Revised Scoring of the Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ-RS) in order to investigate self-reported hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity in three groups of adults: a female ASC group (n = 152), mothers of children with ASC (BAP mothers group; n = 103), and a control mothers group (n = 74). All participants completed the SPQ as a self-report measure of sensory processing and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) as a measure of the degree of autism traits.ResultsThe female ASC group reported significantly more hypersensitivity, but not more hyposensitivity, compared to the control female and BAP mothers groups. The BAP mothers group did not differ from the control mothers group in either reported hypersensitivity (p = .365) or hyposensitivity (p = .075), suggesting atypical sensory sensitivity is not a BAP trait within females. SPQ-RS hypersensitivity scores positively correlated with autistic traits in the female ASC (r = .266) and BAP mothers groups (r = .350).ConclusionsThe present findings revealed greater sensory hypersensitivity, but not hyposensitivity, in females with ASC compared to BAP and control female groups, and that a greater degree of autism traits relates to higher hypersensitivity in ASC females. The results offer support for the enhanced perceptual functioning model using large samples of females, who are an understudied population, and demonstrate the validity of the SPQ-RS as a valuable new research tool for exploring self-reported hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity.

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Development of the Sensory Hypersensitivity Scale (SHS): a self-report tool for assessing sensitivity to sensory stimuli.

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