Efficacy of three screening instruments in the identification of autistic-spectrum disorders (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2006
This article describes the development of a screening instrument for young children. Screening items were tested first in a non-selected population of children aged 8-20 months (n = 478). Then, parents of children with clinically diagnosed ASD (n = 153, average age 87 months) or ADHD (n = 76, average age 112 months) were asked to score the items retrospectively for when their child was 14 months old. A 14-item screening instrument, Early Screening of Autistic Traits (ESAT) which had maximal sensitivity and specificity for ASD was developed. The sensitivity of the ESAT was checked in an independent sample of 34 children aged 16-48 months clinically diagnosed with ASD. A 4-item version appears to be a promising prescreening instrument.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2006
A two-stage protocol for screening for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) was evaluated in a random population of 31,724 children aged 14-15 months. Children were first pre-screened by physicians at well-baby clinics using a 4-item screening instrument. Infants that screened positive were then evaluated during a 1.5-h home visit by a trained psychologist using a recently developed screening instrument, the 14-item Early Screening of Autistic Traits Questionnaire (ESAT). Children with 3 or more negative scores were considered to be at high-risk of developing ASD and were invited for further systematic psychiatric examination. Eighteen children with ASD were identified. The group of children with false positive results had related disorders, such as Language Disorder (N = 18) and Mental Retardation (N = 13).
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2011
Research indicates that autism is the extreme end of a continuously distributed trait. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) aim to assess autistic traits. The objective of this study was to compare their clinical validity. The SRS showed sensitivities of .74 to .80 and specificities of .69 to 1.00 for autism. Sensitivities were .85 to .90 and specificities .28 to.82 for the SCDC. Correlations with the ADI-R, ADOS and SCQ were higher for the SRS than for the SCDC. The SCDC seems superior to the SRS to screen for unspecific social and communicative deficits including autism. The SRS appears more suitable than the SCDC in clinical settings and for specific autism screening.
Autistic Learning & Behavioural Difficulties Inventory: Validation of the Screening Instrument
The triad of impairments in communication, social interaction, and imagination is often used in autism screening tools. In this paper, the authors have proposed an alternative by examining autistic learning and behavioural challenges in cognitive, conative, affective and sensory processes. The alternative pinpoints the specific needs and strengths for informing decisions on selecting appropriate autism treatment strategies to follow up. They trialled the use of the Autistic Learning and Behavioural Difficulties Inventory (ALBDI) on 53 participants and validated it on the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition (GARS-2). Findings of their study suggested that ALBDI is a useful measure where its total autistic learning and behavioural difficulties scores correlated significantly with the GARS-2 total standard scores of its subtests and its Autism Index with Pearson correlation coefficients r = .800 (p<.01) and r = .801 (p<.01) respectively. ALBDI is included in the Appendix.
Autistic learning and behavioural difficulties inventory: Validation of the screening instrument
2015
The triad of impairments in communication, social interaction, and imagination is often used in autism screening tools. In this paper, the authors have proposed an alternative by examining autistic learning and behavioural challenges in cognitive, conative, affective and sensory processes. The alternative pinpoints the specific needs and strengths for informing decisions on selecting appropriate autism treatment strategies to follow up. They trialled the use of the Autistic Learning and Behavioural Difficulties Inventory (ALBDI) on 53 participants and validated it on the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition (GARS-2). Findings of their study suggested that ALBDI is a useful measure where its total autistic learning and behavioural difficulties scores correlated significantly with the GARS-2 total standard scores of its subtests and its Autism Index with Pearson correlation coefficients r = .800 (p<.01) and r = .801 (p<.01) respectively. ALBDI is included in the Appendix.
Differentiating the behavioural profile in autism and mental retardation and testing of a screener
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2004
In order to differentiate the behavioural profiles in autism and mental retardation and to crossvalidate a behavioural autism screen, 84 subjects with autism (64 males and 20 females) with a mean age of 10 years selected from a Swiss national survey were compared to a control group of 84 subjects matched by age and gender with mental retardation, but without autistic features. The behavioural profile was assessed using the Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC). The behavioural profile in autism, in contrast to mental retardation, was marked by higher scores in the domains of disruptive, self-absorbed, communication disturbed, anxious and autistic behaviour, and a higher total DBC score. Furthermore, a higher vulnerability for behavioural abnormalities became evident for females with autism. A recently proposed DBC-Autism Screen was cross-validated, and a slight extension of the screen led to even higher correct classification rates. It was concluded that the DBC is a suitable instrument for the assessment of the behavioural profile and for screening in autism
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2007
This study compared behavioral presentation of toddlers with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and toddlers with global developmental delay (DD) or developmental language disorder (DLD) who display some characteristics of ASD using the diagnostic algorithm items from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Generic (ADOS), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). To date, 195 children have failed the M-CHAT and have been diagnosed with ASD, DD or DLD. Children with ASD had prominent and consistent impairments in socialization skills, especially joint attention skills and were more impaired in some aspects of communication, play, and sensory processing. Children with ASD and children with DD/ DLD shared common features, but certain behavioral markers differentiated the two groups.
Child Psychiatry & Human Development
There are no assessment and screening tools for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) validated for the Portuguese population. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is an useful screening tool of ASD diagnosis. The main objectives of our study were to produce a Portuguese version of the SCQ (SCQ-PF), study its internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity in order to evaluate its validity as a screening instrument for ASD. We also wanted to study the impact of intellectual disability and verbal impairment and other mental disorders on SCQ-PF psychometric properties. The study included 211 children and adolescents, aged 4–17, divided in three groups: ASD Group (n = 96), Other Mental Disorders Group (OMD) (n = 63) and No Mental Disorders (NMD) Group (n = 52). Parents or other primary caregiver provided information on the SCQ items. The SCQ-PF score was significantly higher in the ASD group than in the other groups (p < 0.001). As to internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha was 8...
The screening and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1999
The Child Neurology Society and American Academy of Neurology recently proposed to formulate Practice Parameters for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Autism for their memberships. This endeavor was expanded to include representatives from nine professional organizations and four parent organizations, with liaisons from the National Institutes of Health. This document was written by this multidisciplinary Consensus Panel after systematic analysis of over 2,500 relevant scientific articles in the literature. The Panel concluded that appropriate diagnosis of autism requires a dual-level approach: (a) routine developmental surveillance, and (b) diagnosis and evaluation of autism. Specific detailed recommendations for each level have been established in this document, which are intended to improve the rate of early suspicion and diagnosis of, and therefore early intervention for, autism.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2003
Studies of the broader autism phenotype, and of subtle changes in autism symptoms over time, have been compromised by a lack of established quantitative assessment tools. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-formerly known as the Social Reciprocity Scale) is a new instrument that can be completed by parents and/or teachers in 15-20 minutes. We compared the SRS with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) in 61 child psychiatric patients. Correlations between SRS scores and ADI-R algorithm scores for DSM-IV criterion sets were on the order of 0.7. SRS scores were unrelated to I.Q. and exhibited inter-rater reliability on the order of 0.8. The SRS is a valid quantitative measure of autistic traits, feasible for use in clinical settings and for large-scale research studies of autism spectrum conditions.