Standardized instruments for the evaluation of sensory aspects in infants from birth to the sixth month: An integrative review

Abstract

This work aimed to identify the standardized instruments that assess sensory aspects in infants from birth to the sixth month. It is an Integrative Review of studies published from 2010 to 2020 in Bireme, SciElo, Scopus, Lilacs and Pubmed/Medline databases, in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, and in the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy from the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, in the Journal of Occupational Therapy from the University of São Paulo and the Interinstitutional Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy (REVISBRATO). The descriptors “infant” and “sensation disorders”, the free term “scale”, and the Boolean operator “AND” were fixedly adopted, whereas the free terms “Sensory Profile”, “Sensory Functions” and “Sensory Processing” were alternately adopted. Studies in Portuguese, English and Spanish were included. Review studies, researches with professional and others that did not correspond to the theme were excluded from this review. Six studies were selected. Among the eight identified instruments, only the Infant/Toddler Sensory Profile and the Test of Sensory Functions in Infants specifically assess sensory aspects. The use of two instruments for the assessment of the context in which the infant is inserted to assess sensory aspect, as HOME and AHEMED, were identified, as well as other instruments for general analysis of development, as Bayley-III. There is the need to broaden the use of specific instruments for the analysis of sensory processing in order to increase the opportunities for family members, teachers and professionals to support the infant development, as well as to identify risk signs that, when treated, decrease iatrogenic effects in development.