Assessment of Central Sensitivity Syndrome and Sensory Processing Sensitivity: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The association between central sensitivity syndrome (CSS) and sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) demonstrates the need for assessment tools that quantify the physical and psychological alterations observed in these two conditions in order to generate multidisciplinary treatments and establish their effectiveness. This study aimed to identify and analyze validated CSS and SPS assessment methods and conduct an operational comparison of their parameters, content, methodological quality of their original validations, instructions, etc., in order to determine the best option. This systematic review (PRISMA) used PubMed, WoS, Scopus, Psycinfo, CINHAL, and manual searches until March 2025. A meta-analysis complemented the review. The main criteria selected for original validation studies of tools to assess CSS/SPS. Twenty-nine original validation studies with 29 assessment questionnaires/scales were selected. QUADAS-2 showed low risk of bias in all domains in recent validations. COSMIN-RB found that almost all domains in the post-2010 validations were adequate. The instruments included 78 variables grouped in the following categories: psychological, SPS, physical/psychosomatic aspects, intolerances, environmental sensitivity, and sensory modalities. The compilation and analysis of the assessment tools from the original validations associated with CSS and SPS provided scores and interpretations, locations, languages, etc., to select the most appropriate instrument in each context. The most recent validations had better methodological quality. The Central Sensitization Inventory Short Form scored the highest on QUADAS-2 and COSMIN-RB.