Browsing by Subject "autismikirjon piirteet"

Objectives. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been assoaciated with anomalies in pain sensitivity, although the results of the studies have not been concordant. Since sensory atypicalities are a frequent feature in ASD, it has led to the hypothesis of sensory dysfunction which affects the whole sensory system, including the pain system. ASD has also been associated with increased pain disturbance in previous studies. This Master`s thesis investigated the relationship between ASD traits and pain intensity, pain interference, and pain sensitivity. Moreover, the aim was to study if sensory atypicalities have a different impact on pain intensity, pain interference, and pain sensitivity, when accompanied with ASD traits. Methods. The sample consisted of 947 adults aged between 18 and 60 years. The data were collected using an online questionnaire, which contained items about ASD traits, pain intensity and pain interference from the past week, pain sensitivity in different situations, and sensory hyper- and hyposensitivies. In addition, there were items on backround information relevant for the study in the questionnaire. The subjects were divided into two groups based on the score obtained from the ASD trait questionnaire: the ASD trait group and the reference group. Results and conclusions. There was a significant negative association between ASD traits and pain intensity, such that the estimates of pain intensity were significantly lower in the ASD trait group than in the reference group, despite there being more self-reported comorbidities and chronic pain presented in the ASD trait group. There were no significant associations between ASD traits and pain interference or pain sensitivity. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between ASD traits and sensory atypicalities in pain intensity, pain interference, and pain sensitivity; as the number of sensory atypicalities increased, pain intensity, pain interference, and pain sensitivity increased significantly in the reference group. Instead, the impact of sensory atypicalities on pain was significantly weaker in individuals with ASD traits. The results imply that individuals with ASD traits may have lower pain sensitivity in everyday life, but regular pain sensitivity in specific pain situations. The impact of sensory atypicalities on pain seems to be stronger in individuals without ASD traits, which does not provide support for the hypothesis of sensory dysfunction as an underlying mechanism of pain sensitivity in ASD.