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Clinical overlap between functional neurological disorders and autism spectrum disorders: a preliminary study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

D. Goeta  and
B. Demartini
D. Goeta*
Affiliation:
U.O. di Psichiatria, Presidio San Carlo
B. Demartini
Affiliation:
U.O. di Psichiatria 52, Presidio San Paolo, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo Aldo Ravelli Research Center for Neurotechnology and experimental brain therapeutics, University of Milan, milan, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Functional neurological disorders (FNDs) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) share common features in terms of deficits in emotion regulation and recognition, sensory sensitivity, proprioception and interoception. Nevertheless, few studies have assesed teir overlap.

Objectives

Aims of the present study were: (i) to assess the prevalence of autistic traits in a sample of adult patients with FNDs and (ii) to assess the prevalence of FNS in a sample of adult individuals with ASDs without intellectual disabilities; in this sample, we also evaluated the presence of a possible association between sensory sensitivity and FNS.

Methods

We recruited 21 patients with FNDs, 30 individuals with ASDs without intellectual disabilities and 45 neurotypical adults (NA). Participants completed: the Autism Quotient (AQ); the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R); and a questionnaire assessing functional neurological symptoms (FNS). ASDs participants also completed the Sensory Perception Quotient-Short Form (SPQ-SF35), assessing sensory sensitivity.

Results

In the FNDs sample, no patient scored above the clinical cut-off at the AQ and the 19% scored above the cut-off at the RAADS-R, a prevalence similar to the one we found in NA (15.6%; both p > 0.05). The 86.7% of participants with ASDs reported at least one FNS, a prevalence significantly higher than the NA one (35.6%, p < 0.001). In the ASDs sample, tactile hypersensitivity was found to be a risk factor for functional weakness (OR = 0.74, p = 0.033) and paraesthesia (OR = 0.753, p = 0.019).

Conclusions

In conclusions, FNDs individuals did not present autistic traits more than NA, but ASDs individuals presented a higher number of FNSs than NA; this rate was associated with higher sensory sensitivity, especially in the touch domain.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S336
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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