Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the proof of concept of an intervention to decrease sympathetic activation as measured by skin conductivity (electrodermal activity, EDA) in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and auditory hypersensitivity (hyperacusis). In addition, researchers examined if the intervention provided protection against the negative effects of decibel level of environmental noises on electrodermal measures between interventions. The feasibility of implementation and outcome measures within natural environments were evaluated. Method: A single-subject multi-treatment design was used with six children, aged 8-16 years, with a form of Autism (i.e., Autism, PDD-NOS). Participants used in-ear (IE) and over-ear (OE) headphones for two randomly sequenced treatment phases. Each child completed four phases: (1) a week of baseline data collection; (2) a week of an intervention; (3) a week of no intervention; and (4) a week of the other intervention. Empatica E4 wristbands collected EDA data. Data was collected on 16-20 occasions per participant, with five measurements per phase. Results: Separated tests for paired study phases suggested that regardless of intervention type, noise attenuating headphones led to a significance difference in both skin conductance levels (SCL) and frequency of non-specific conductance responses (NS-SCRs) between the baseline measurement and subsequent phases. Overall, SCL and NS-SCR frequency significantly decreased between baseline and the first intervention phase. A protective effect of the intervention was tested by collapsing intervention results into three phases. Slope correlation suggested constant SCL and NS-SCR frequency after initial use of the headphones regardless of the increase in environmental noises. A subsequent analysis of the quality of EDA data identified that later phases of data collection were associated with better data quality. Conclusion: Many children with ASD have hypersensitivities to sound resulting in high levels of sympathetic nervous system reactivity, which is associated with problematic behaviors and distress. The findings of this study suggest that the use of noise attenuating headphones for individuals with ASD and hyperacusis may reduce sympathetic activation. Additionally, results suggest that the use of wearable sensors to collect physiological data in natural environments is feasible with established protocols and training procedures.

中文翻译：

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孤独症频谱障碍儿童的降噪耳机对生理反应的有效性。

目的：本研究的目的是评估自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和听觉超敏性（hyperacusis）患儿通过皮肤电导率（皮肤电活动，EDA）减少交感激活的干预措施的概念证明。此外，研究人员还检查了干预措施是否为干预之间的皮肤电刺激措施提供了分贝级环境噪声水平的不利影响保护。评价了在自然环境中实施和结果措施的可行性。方法：采用单对象多治疗设计，对6名8-16岁的儿童进行自闭症治疗（即自闭症，PDD-NOS）。参与者使用入耳式（IE）和耳挂式（OE）耳机进行两个随机排序的治疗阶段。每个孩子完成四个阶段：（1）一周的基线数据收集；（2）一周的干预；（3）一周不干预；（4）其他干预的一周。Empatica E4腕带收集了EDA数据。每个参与者16-20次收集数据，每个阶段进行五次测量。结果：成对研究阶段的分离测试表明，无论干预类型如何，降噪耳机都会导致基线测量与后续测量之间的皮肤电导水平（SCL）和非特异性电导反应（NS-SCR）频率的显着差异阶段。总体而言，在基线和第一个干预阶段之间，SCL和NS-SCR频率显着降低。通过将干预结果分为三个阶段来测试干预的保护作用。斜率相关性表明，无论环境噪声的增加如何，在首次使用耳机后，SCL和NS-SCR频率均保持恒定。对EDA数据质量的后续分析表明，数据收集的后期阶段与更好的数据质量相关。结论：许多自闭症儿童对声音过敏，导致交感神经系统反应性高水平，这与有问题的行为和困扰有关。这项研究的结果表明，对患有ASD和听觉亢进的人使用降噪耳机可能会减少交感神经的激活。此外，结果表明，在已建立的规程和培训程序的基础上，使用可穿戴传感器收集自然环境中的生理数据是可行的。