5 Sep 19
New Caregiver-Reported Data Further Validate the Use of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Community: FXS Specific (ABC-CFXS) Subscales to Assess Core Behavioral Symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS)
– Ninety Percent of Interviewed Caregivers Reported Social Avoidant, Irritability, and Socially Lethargic Behaviors in their Children with FXS –
– New Data Presented Today at the Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes (SSBP) Research Symposium –
Devon, PA, September 5, 2019 — Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYNE), the leader in innovative pharmaceutically-produced transdermal cannabinoid therapies for rare and near-rare neuropsychiatric disorders, is presenting data today evaluating the Social Avoidance, Irritability, and Socially Unresponsive/Lethargic subscales of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Community: FXS Specific (ABC-CFXS) in relation to the experience of caregivers caring for a child with Fragile X syndrome. The poster describes data collected via web-based journals and in-depth interviews of caregivers of children with Fragile X syndrome (FXS). The data indicate that nine of ten caregivers reported their children had behaviors representative of social avoidance, socially unresponsiveness/lethargic, and irritability and the behaviors described had strong concordance with individual items of the ABC-CFXS.
The poster, entitled Content Validity of the ABC-CFXS and Subscales in Fragile X Syndrome, is being presented on September 5th and 6th at the 22nd Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes (SSBP) Research Symposium at Aston University in Birmingham, UK. A copy of the poster is available on the Zynerba corporate website at http://zynerba.com/publications/.
Terri Browning Sebree, Zynerba’s President, is presenting data providing qualitative evidence of the appropriateness of Social Avoidance, Irritability, and Socially Unresponsive/Lethargic subscales of the ABC-CFXS in assessing core symptoms of FXS. In addition, the data further validate social avoidance, irritability, and socially unresponsive/lethargic behaviors as core FXS behavioral symptoms from the perspective of caregivers of children with the disorder. The Company is utilizing the ABC-CFXS to assess improvements in core behaviors of FXS in the ongoing 14-week pivotal CONNECT-FX study of Zygel™ (CBD gel). Ms. Sebree will present the poster from 12:40 to 1:45 British Summer Time (BST) on September 5th and 6th, 2019.
“Fragile X syndrome is a complex diagnosis for a child and his/her family, marked by a myriad of specific behavioral and emotional symptoms often manifesting as anxiety and social avoidant behaviors,” said Ms. Sebree. “Through studies like this one, we are able to not only elucidate the most common core behaviors of FXS, but also further validate the appropriateness of the ABC-CFXS as an effective tool for use in clinical studies as a means to measure improvements in these core and common FXS behaviors.”
Ten caregivers of children formally diagnosed with FXS participated in this study with assistance from the National Fragile X Foundation (NFXF) via online invitation through the NFXF website. The study found that 90% of caregivers reported at least one behavior that was representative of social avoidance, socially unresponsive/lethargic, and irritability
Social Avoidance
It was common for their children with FXS to prefer the company of single family members to groups of people, even friends, and to seek isolation from others either via physical setting (staying in their room or in the car) or blocking out the world (using headphones). Social avoidance had a negative impact on important activities, such as travel, schooling, or visits to the doctor.
The social-avoidant behaviors reported by caregivers, including ‘seeks isolation from others’, ‘prefers to be alone’, and ‘prefers solitary activities’ corresponded to items on the Social Avoidance subscale, including seeks isolation from others and isolates himself/herself from other children or adults
Irritability
Irritability was associated with a broad spectrum of verbal (talking back, hollering, articulate yelling, non-verbal screams) and physical behaviors (hitting siblings, overturning furniture) at inappropriate times.
Frequently reported aspects of misbehavior and irritability mapped onto items of the Irritability subscale, specifically ‘aggressive to others’, ‘irritability’, ‘temper tantrums/outbursts’, ‘screaming/yelling inappropriately’, ‘harming of others’, and ‘stubbornness’.
Socially Unresponsive/Lethargic
Caregivers frequently reported of ‘lack of interaction’ and ‘lack of attention’ in their children with FXS, which mapped to subscale items such as ‘preoccupied’, ‘stares into space’, ‘unresponsive to structured activities (does not react)’, and ‘shows few social reactions to others’. Items on the subscale pertaining to communication were identified as important by caregivers, particularly with respect to how they may exacerbate other syndrome-related behaviors.
The authors conclude that these data further validate social avoidance, irritability, and socially unresponsive/lethargic as core phenotypic behaviors of children with FXS and show that caregiver experiences correspond with ABC-CFXS subscales, further validating the appropriateness of the ABC-CFXS as an effective assessment tool in clinical trials.
About Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals is the leader in pharmaceutically-produced transdermal cannabinoid therapies for rare and near-rare neuropsychiatric disorders. We are committed to improving the lives of patients and their families living with severe, chronic health conditions including Fragile X Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, and a heterogeneous group of rare and ultra-rare epilepsies known as developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. Learn more at www.zynerba.com and follow us on Twitter at @ZynerbaPharma.
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Zynerba Pharmaceuticals
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robertsw@zynerba.com
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Evoke KYNE
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