Proxy-reported sensory measures for children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders: A systematic review.

The review included only measures for children aged 3 to 18 years, so it says nothing about infants or younger children. Most measures had only one publication reporting psychometric properties. Many studies were developed for children with autism, and some included typically developing children without a clinical sample, so evidence for broad neurodevelopmental groups is limited. No measure had child-reported data, so the results reflect caregiver report only. No study reported responsiveness, so the review cannot tell whether these measures can detect change after intervention. The studies did not report whether children had received sensory-based intervention, which may have affected caregiver answers. Measures without evidence that questions are relevant, complete, and understandable cannot be recommended for clinical use.

The work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Petre Foundation, Indiana University, the University of Sydney, and the Sydney Medical School. The provided text does not list other author conflicts.

Do not assume a sensory questionnaire is ready for clinical use because it has good internal consistency. Most measures lacked evidence that their questions were relevant, complete, and understandable, and none showed whether they can detect change after therapy.