Dissecting the phenotypic heterogeneity in sensory features in autism spectrum disorder: a factor mixture modelling approach.
J Tillmann, M Uljarevic, D Crawley and 5 others
PMID 32867850WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic children and adults grouped into three sensory severity levels rather than distinct sensory patterns.
The severe group had more social-communication, repetitive behaviour and adaptive functioning difficulties.
Key findings
01The best-fitting model described sensory features as three subgroups with seven continuous sensory factors.
02Compared with the low sensory group, the severe group had more social-communication difficulties, more inattention and worse adaptive social functioning; the moderate group had more social-communication difficulties and more ritualistic/sameness behaviours.
03Even the low sensory group showed atypical sensory features on average, not a typical sensory profile.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sensory groups came from one caregiver questionnaire, the SSP, which gives limited coverage of hypo-sensitivity and unusual sensory interests. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether sensory subgroups predict later outcomes or treatment response. The severe sensory group was small, with 24 participants, which limits confidence in group differences. The model imposed the same seven-factor structure in each subgroup and did not test whether the measure works the same way in all subgroups.
Declared interests
The paper lists funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative and the Australian Research Council. Publication types include Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the sensory low group as typical or use the three groups as a validated clinical tool. The low group still showed atypical sensory features on average, and the authors call the subgrouping preliminary and in need of validation.