BACKGROUND: Previous research on clinical and high-risk samples suggests that signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be detected between 1 and 2 years of age. We investigated signs of ASD at 18 months in a population-based sample and the association with later ASD diagnosis. METHODS: The study sample includes 52,026 children born 2003 through 2008 and is a subset of children that participated in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort (MoBa), a population-based longitudinal study, and the Autism Birth Cohort (ABC), a sub-study on ASD. Parents completed all 23 items from the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) at 18 months. RESULTS: The M-CHAT 6-critical-item criterion and the 23-item criterion had a specificity of 97.9% and 92.7% and a sensitivity of 20.8% and 34.1%, respectively. In the 173 children diagnosed with ASD to date, 60 children (34.7%) scored above the cut-off on either of the screening criteria. The items with the highest likelihood ratios were 'interest in other children', 'show objects to others' and 'response to name'. CONCLUSION: Even though one-third of the children who later received an ASD diagnosis were identified through M-CHAT items, the majority scored below cut-off on the screening criteria at 18 months. The results imply that it might not be possible to detect all children with ASD at this age.
BACKGROUND: Previous research on clinical and high-risk samples suggests that signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be detected between 1 and 2 years of age. We investigated signs of ASD at 18 months in a population-based sample and the association with later ASD diagnosis. METHODS: The study sample includes 52,026 children born 2003 through 2008 and is a subset of children that participated in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort (MoBa), a population-based longitudinal study, and the Autism Birth Cohort (ABC), a sub-study on ASD. Parents completed all 23 items from the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) at 18 months. RESULTS: The M-CHAT 6-critical-item criterion and the 23-item criterion had a specificity of 97.9% and 92.7% and a sensitivity of 20.8% and 34.1%, respectively. In the 173 children diagnosed with ASD to date, 60 children (34.7%) scored above the cut-off on either of the screening criteria. The items with the highest likelihood ratios were 'interest in other children', 'show objects to others' and 'response to name'. CONCLUSION: Even though one-third of the children who later received an ASD diagnosis were identified through M-CHAT items, the majority scored below cut-off on the screening criteria at 18 months. The results imply that it might not be possible to detect all children with ASD at this age.
Authors: Juhi Pandey; Alyssa Verbalis; Diana L Robins; Hilary Boorstein; A M I Klin; Tammy Babitz; Katarzyna Chawarska; Fred Volkmar; James Green; Marianne Barton; Deborah Fein Journal: Autism Date: 2008-09
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Authors: C Stoltenberg; S Schjølberg; M Bresnahan; M Hornig; D Hirtz; C Dahl; K K Lie; T Reichborn-Kjennerud; P Schreuder; E Alsaker; A-S Øyen; P Magnus; P Surén; E Susser; W I Lipkin Journal: Mol Psychiatry Date: 2010-07 Impact factor: 15.992
Authors: Jamie M Kleinman; Diana L Robins; Pamela E Ventola; Juhi Pandey; Hilary C Boorstein; Emma L Esser; Leandra B Wilson; Michael A Rosenthal; Saasha Sutera; Alyssa D Verbalis; Marianne Barton; Sarah Hodgson; James Green; Thyde Dumont-Mathieu; Fred Volkmar; Katarzyna Chawarska; Ami Klin; Deborah Fein Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2008-05
Authors: Dajie Zhang; Laura Roche; Katrin D Bartl-Pokorny; Magdalena Krieber; Laurie McLay; Sven Bölte; Luise Poustka; Jeff Sigafoos; Markus Gugatschka; Christa Einspieler; Peter B Marschik Journal: Res Dev Disabil Date: 2018-04-12
Authors: Suzanne L Macari; Grace C Wu; Kelly K Powell; Scuddy Fontenelle; Deanna M Macris; Katarzyna Chawarska Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2018-04
Authors: Paul S Carbone; Kathleen Campbell; Jacob Wilkes; Gregory J Stoddard; Kelly Huynh; Paul C Young; Terisa P Gabrielsen Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2020-07-06 Impact factor: 7.124