title: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders Have Equal Success Rate But Require Longer Periods of Systematic Desensitization than Control Patients to Complete Ambulatory Polysomnography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for the assessment of sleep, yet the extensive apparatus required for monitoring with PSG can be difficult to tolerate, particularly in children. Clinical populations, such as those with anxiety or tactile sensitivity, may have even greater difficulty tolerating the PSG equipment. This study evaluated an innovative protocol for obtaining full PSG in individuals diagnosed autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or developmental delay (DD), as well as typically developing controls (TD). The primary aim was to assess whether this protocol was equally successful for obtaining PSG between these groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred sixty-one individuals were recruited for participation; 93 with a diagnosis of ASD, 23 with a diagnosis of DD, and 45 TD. The participants and families were instructed on a procedure of systematic desensitization to the ambulatory PSG equipment; PSG was performed in the home of the participant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PSG was successfully attained in 144 (89.4%) participants. There was no difference in completion rate by diagnosis (p = 0.1), though younger age (p = 0.018) and duration of desensitization (p = 0.024) did predict PSG failure. Further, it was found that individuals with ASD took longer to desensitize to the equipment (16.08 d), than those with DD (8.04 d) or TD (0.98 d).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Systematic desensitization to PSG equipment, in combination with PSG completed in the home, allows for individuals with ASD to be equally successful in completing PSG, though they do take longer to acclimate to the equipment.
authors.affiliation: Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Department of Sleep Medicine, Sunnyvale, CA.|Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Primeau
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Anda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gershon
authors.affiliation: San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Talbot
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cotto
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lotspeich
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.|Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hardan
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.|Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hallmayer
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA.|San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.|Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC): VISN 21: Sierra Pacific Network, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto, CA.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O'Hara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: autism spectrum disorder; methodology; pediatric; polysomnography