title: Does somatosensation change with age in children and adolescents? A systematic review.
abstract: Somatosensory modalities, such as touch, proprioception and haptic ability, greatly influence the achievement of developmental milestones for children. Describing somatosensory impairment, natural variability and typical or expected developmental changes across age groups will help establish frameworks for intervention in clinical populations. This systematic review aimed to determine how different somatosensory modalities develop across childhood into adolescence to use as a point of reference for children at risk of somatosensory impairment.
  
  
  
  Searches of five electronic databases were undertaken through EBSCO-host (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus and ERIC) for studies measuring at least one somatosensory modality in typically developing individuals between birth and 18 years and analysed by age. Characteristics of studies were collected including country of origin, sample size, demographics and outcome measure used. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed by two independent reviewers.
  
  
  
  Twenty three cross-sectional studies were included from a total of 188 articles retrieved: 8 examined aspects of touch, 5 proprioception and 10 haptic ability. Variability of study designs and variation in assessment tools precluded any formal meta-analysis.
  
  
  
  Somatosensation matures through childhood into adolescence; however, the present review found the pattern of somatosensory development varied depending on the assessment tool used and the aspect of somatosensation being measured, making it difficult to describe typical performance. There is a need for comprehensive assessment batteries to measure the somatosensation, including touch, proprioception and haptic ability, of children at risk of somatosensory impairment to aid in the development of effective interventions.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Computing Health and Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia. susan.taylor4@health.wa.gov.au.|School of Occupational Therapy and Social work, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. susan.taylor4@health.wa.gov.au.|Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia. susan.taylor4@health.wa.gov.au.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.|Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social work, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falkmer
authors.affiliation: Neurorehabilitation and Recovery, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.|Occupational Therapy, School of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carey
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social work, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.|Population Sciences, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Girdler
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social work, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.|Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Population Sciences, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blair
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology*; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012016:Reference Values; D013236:Stereognosis / Q000502:physiology; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: adolescent; assessment; child; haptic ability; proprioception; somatosensation; touch; typical development