Pain in adults with autism spectrum disorders and comorbidity: a mediational analysis
Abstract
The literature recently included sensory processing abnormalities (pain associated) in the diagnostic criteria for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is no standard method for evaluating sensory and pain abnormalities in individuals with ASD. Forty-six adults with ASD were enrolled in this study. We evaluated objective pain sensitivity by measuring the procedural and acute pain in several contexts. Then, we analyzed the correlation matrix and next we executed mediational analyzes. The correlation between perception of pain and clinical variables was significant. The comorbidity was the main factor in the mediation between the severity of autism and the intensity of pain. Our results suggest that our methodology can be used to assess pain sensitivity in individuals with ASD, and we confirmed the hypothesis that comorbidity is the main mediating factor between the severity of autism and the intensity of pain.References
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