Sensory profiles in adults with and without ADHD.
M S Kamath, C R Dahm, J R Tucker and 3 others
PMID 32526674WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with ADHD reported different sensory processing than matched adults, even after accounting for anxiety or depression.
They missed weak stimuli more, were more sensitive to detail, and sought more sensation, but did not report more avoidance.
Key findings
01After accounting for anxiety or depression, adults with ADHD differed from controls on low registration, sensation seeking, and sensory sensitivity, but not on sensation avoiding.
02After accounting for anxiety or depression, adults with ADHD differed from controls on movement, visual, touch, activity-level, and auditory sensory scores, but not on taste/smell.
03Anxiety or depression was independently related to sensory reports, including low registration, sensory sensitivity, sensation avoiding, and movement, visual, touch, and activity scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and did not allow the researchers to examine sex differences. Anxiety and depression were measured by self-report, not by diagnostic interviews, so the internalizing control may not fully characterize those symptoms. The sensory profile findings are group comparisons, and the authors note that the questionnaire is ideally interpreted one person at a time with clinical history.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that adults with ADHD are more overwhelmed by or avoidant of sensory input than adults without ADHD. The sensation avoiding score did not differ between groups, and the authors state that sensory profile scores should be interpreted individually with clinical history, not as a stand-alone diagnosis.