Avoiding lights and sounds: validation of the PhotoSensitivity and PhonoSensitivity Avoidance Behavior Scales (PHOTO-SABS & PHONO-SABS) in pediatric headache

ABSTRACT

Photosensitivity and phonosensitivity are commonly associated with pediatric chronic headache. Youth may modify their environments and participation to avoid sensory stimuli, inadvertently increasing functional disability. Unfortunately, there are no established measures examining sensory-related avoidance behaviors in youth with headache. This study sought to empirically validate the PhotoSensitivity and PhonoSensitivity Avoidance Behavior Scales in 232 youth undergoing multidisciplinary headache evaluation. Exploratory factor analyses revealed two PHOTO-SABS factors and a single PHONO-SABS factor. Both measures demonstrated strong internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. The PHOTO-SABS and PHONO-SABS appear to be psychometrically sound measures of sensory-related avoidance behavior in youth with headache.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Boston Children’s Hospital Chronic Pain Data Repository team, who manages the clinical data collected within the Division of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology, including all data used in this study, especially Carolina Donado, MD, for her support with dataset construction, management, and analytics. The authors would also like to acknowledge Christopher Butler, BS, the developer and manager of the web-based platform for data collection that has become part of our clinical standard of care.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.