Personality, sensory processing and eating disorders v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Trait characteristics and sensory mechanisms associated with eating disorder-related symptoms in acute patients undergoing treatment (pilot).
IRAS ID
143615
Contact name
Lois Grayson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Durham University Faculty of Social Sciences and Health
Research summary
Severe and enduring eating disorders (SEED) conditions show a high mortality risk linked to high autistic trait expression, suggesting that atypical sensory processes associated with autism spectrum disorder may be involved in these treatment-resistant conditions; specifically, impairments to taste and smell may make food consumption unappealing, impeding recovery. Furthermore, lack of strong taste/smell sensations may make individuals with eating disorders reliant on appearance cues for taste identification (visual dominance).
This two-part pilot study will recruit patients receiving treatment in adult TEWV NHS Foundation Trust eating disorder services to explore whether autistic traits affect sensory processing in eating disorders. The first part involves online survey completion to capture autistic trait expression and current eating behaviours. The second part involves assessing colour, taste and smell identification accuracy/thresholds/sensitivities, followed by an experiment in which ability to name accurately the flavour of coloured water-based drinks will be tested under two drink appearance conditions: congruent (taste and colour match), and incongruent (taste and colour contrast). An eating disorders examination (EDE) interview will also be conducted to ascertain each participant’s symptomology at time of testing. Recruitment/testing will take place within appropriate clinical settings.Individuals with eating disorders and high autistic trait expression are predicted to show hyposensitivities and be more misled by colour cues on the task than those with fewer traits. Control data (from participants with no eating disorder history)will be provided by a concomitant non-NHS epidemiological study following the same protocol (but without the interview being administered).
Evidence supporting autistic trait/sensory hyposensitivity associations would suggest inclusion of trait-based screening during diagnosis to identify ‘at risk’ individuals. Furthermore, if results provide evidence of sensory differences in relation to autistic traits in eating disorders, development of a new approach to food recovery programmes (accommodating sensory sensitivities/visual dominance patterns for patients with autistic traits) would be indicated.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/1124
Date of REC Opinion
20 Aug 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion