Background: Sensory processing disorders have an estimated prevalence of 5%-10% in children without disability and 40%-88% in children with disability. A subtype of sensory processing disorder is sensory overresponsivity, which can result in fear, irritability, aggression, or avoidance behaviors in children. The Wilbarger protocol is the most prescriptive program used to treat sensory overresponsivity in children aged 2-12 years. Strong anecdotal evidence suggests that the Wilbarger protocol successfully reduces challenging behavior in children with sensory overresponsivity. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and appraise the existing evidence for the effectiveness of the Wilbarger protocol with children aged 0-18 years. Methods: A systematic review was conducted of the peer-reviewed literature written in English. The electronic databases searched up to April 2012 included CINAHL, Ovid Medline (R), Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, AMED, and the Web of Science. OT Seeker and Google Scholar were searched for missed literature, along with hand-searching of retained articles. Adult studies were excluded. The Critical Review Form for Quantitative Studies by McMaster University and the levels of hierarchy from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council were used to appraise the literature. Results: A total of 341 studies were found, and 302 were screened for eligibility after duplicates were removed. Four level IV intervention (case series with pretest/posttest) studies were included for indepth review. All four studies had very small sample sizes, exhibited low methodological quality, differed in outcome measures used, and lacked homogeneity of samples and treatment fidelity. Conclusion: A lack of high quality evidence currently exists to support or refute the use of the Wilbarger protocol with children. While the grade of recommendation, as proposed by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, suggests that the Wilbarger protocol should be applied with caution, emerging evidence from these studies warrants future robust research on this topic. Clinicians are advised to use clear outcome measures when using the Wilbarger protocol with clients.

A priori sample size calculations are used to determine the adequate sample size to estimate the prevalence of the target population with good precision. However, published audits rarely report a priori calculations for their sample size. This article discusses a process in health services delivery mapping to generate a comprehensive sampling frame, which was used to calculate an a priori sample size for a targeted clinical record audit. We describe how we approached methodological and definitional issues in the following steps: (1) target population definition, (2) sampling frame construction, and (3) a priori sample size calculation. We recommend this process for clinicians, researchers, or policy makers when detailed information on a reference population is unavailable.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1247-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Many occupational therapists administer sensory interventions to address the needs of children with autism spectrum disorder. However, the current evidence regarding the effectiveness of sensory interventions is inconclusive, resulting in calls for more robust testing through randomized controlled trials. Our initial research plan was to conduct a randomized controlled trial that had real-world applications for occupational therapists and children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. However, as we conceptualized this study, we identified many uncertainties regarding the criteria required for a robust trial. In this opinion piece we describe and discuss the challenges we encountered when designing a community-clinic-based effectiveness study in an Australian context.

Background: There is an absence of high quality research to support the use of the Therapressure Program TM . This pilot study aimed at developing appropriate research protocols to investigate the effectiveness of the Therapressure Program TM on the stress response in children with sensory overresponsivity.

Background: The Wilbarger Therapressure Program TM is a technique applied by parents at home for sensory overresponsivity in children. The program is anecdotally reported to be demanding on parents, which can affect parental adherence. Currently, there is an absence of high quality research to support the use of the program. This pilot study aimed at developing appropriate research protocols to investigate the effectiveness of the program on the stress response of children with sensory overresponsivity. This article reports on the second phase of the project.