Measuring sensory processing patterns of older Chinese people: Psychometric validation of the adult sensory profile

Abstract

The Adult Sensory Profile (ASP) evaluates the sensory experiences of adults in the categories of auditory, visual, taste/smell, touch, movement, and activity level. It generates four sensory processing patterns including low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoiding. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of ASP (ASP-CV) for older Hong Kong Chinese adults. Ninety-six participants with normal cognitive functioning and 33 participants with dementia were recruited. All participants were involved in the investigation of internal consistency and construct validity. One sub-sample from each group was selected for test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability respectively. The ASP-CV demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability (r = 0.91–0.99 and 0.76–0.88 respectively), and satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.58–0.72). The construct validity of ASP-CV was supported by the known-groups method, in which participants with dementia differed significantly from their healthy counterparts in the patterns of ‘low registration’ (F(1, 127) = 9.69, p = 0.002), ‘sensory sensitivity’ (F(1, 127) = 4.63, p = 0.033), and ‘sensation avoiding’ (F(1, 127) = 15.87, p < 0.001). In conclusion, ASP-CV is reliable and valid to measure sensory processing functions of older Hong Kong Chinese people. Further studies are suggested to examine the factor structure of and the equivalence of self-report and proxy report of ASP-CV.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Helping Hand Tai Wo Hau Home for the Elderly, the Sik Sik Yuen Ho Kin Multi-Service Centre for Senior Citizens, and the Salvation Army Yau Ma Tei Multi-Service Centre for Senior Citizens for helping to recruit subjects and implement the study; Felix Ng and Ronny Lam for their great support in the data collection process; and Peggo Lam for his statistical advice. This study was funded by a research grant (G-T484) from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.