SenITA:Sensory Integration Therapy vs usual care for children with ASD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial of Sensory Integration Therapy versus usual care for sensory processing difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder in children: impact on behavioural difficulties, adaptive skills and socialisation
IRAS ID
214662
Contact name
Rachel McNamara
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN14716440
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common lifelong condition affecting 1 in 100 people. Difficulty responding to sensory information is common and might include feeling overwhelmed/distressed by loud or constant low-level noise. These ‘sensory processing difficulties’ are associated with behaviour and socialisation problems, and affect education, relationships, and participation in daily life. Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT) is a face-to-face therapy, provided by trained occupational therapists who use play-based sensory-motor activities to influence the way the child responds to sensation, reducing distress and improving concentration and interaction with others.\nWe will compare SIT (26 face-to-face sessions over 26 weeks in this study) to usual care in a sample of 216 children and will assess behaviour, daily functioning, socialisation, and parent/carer stress at 6 and 12 months using questionnaires. Recruitment will be through occupational therapy services, CAMHS, paediatric clinics, primary schools, support and/or social services and via self-referral. The intervention will be delivered in clinics in South Wales and Cornwall. Discussion groups with therapists and carers will map out ‘usual care’. Carers will be given diaries to record contact with NHS and other services (e.g. social care).\nA sample of carers will be interviewed at 6 months to gain their views of taking part and of their child’s sensory problems. Therapists will also be interviewed to get a sense of what intervention was actually provided to participants. The cost of providing this type of treatment, compared to usual care will be assessed. Once approximately 10% of study participants have completed the 6-month assessment, a sample of carer diaries will be examined to see whether SIT is different to usual care. The study will only continue if this is confirmed. We will also look at the number of people willing to take part and whether they continue to participate in all sessions and assessments.
Summary of Resuts
Children with autism often experience problems with processing sensory information (e.g., noise, touch, movement, taste, sight). This can lead to problems in daily life. This study was designed to see if Sensory Integration Therapy can help children with these difficulties. Sensory Integration Therapy is a type of face-to-face play-based treatment, delivered by Occupational Therapists. We compared this therapy to the type of treatment normally offered to children with autism (‘usual care’). We recruited children and their carers from Wales and England. Children could take part if they had an autism diagnosis, sensory processing difficulties and were in mainstream primary education. Children taking part in the study were randomly split into two groups. 69 children were given Sensory Integration Therapy as well as their usual care and 69 children carried on with their usual care only. Sensory Integration Therapy involved 24 face-to-face sessions in an Occupational Therapy clinic. This was followed by two telephone calls with the carer. Therapy lasted 26 weeks. We collected information on the type of care being given to children in the usual care only group to compare it to the intervention. Carers were asked questions about their child’s behaviour 6 and 12 months after starting the study. Some carers also completed an interview to talk about what it was like taking part.
Therapists delivered the Sensory Integration Therapy well. Carers and therapists said they saw some improvements. However, it was not significantly better than the usual care at improving children's behaviour and everyday functioning and is a more expensive option. We can’t say that Sensory Integration Therapy is helpful for all children with autism and different sensory processing difficulties. But it might be helpful for some children to focus on specific problems. Future work could focus on which children and problems it would help most.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
17/WA/0031
Date of REC Opinion
23 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion