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Autism screening questionnaire: Diagnostic validity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Sibel Kazak Berument ,
Michael Rutter ,
Catherine Lord ,
Andrew Pickles  and
Anthony Bailey
Sibel Kazak Berument*
Affiliation:
Child Psychiatry Unit and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Michael Rutter
Affiliation:
Child Psychiatry Unit and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Catherine Lord
Affiliation:
Child Psychiatry Unit and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Andrew Pickles
Affiliation:
Child Psychiatry Unit and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Anthony Bailey
Affiliation:
Child Psychiatry Unit and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
Dr Michael Rutter, Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre. Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SES 8AF
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Abstract

Background

Good interview and diagnostic measures for autism and other pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) are available but there is a lack of a good screening questionnaire.

Aims

To develop and test a screening questionnaire based on items in the best available diagnostic interview – the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI–R)

Method

A 40 -item scale, the Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ), was developed and tested on a sample of 160 individuals with PDD and 40 with non-PDD diagnoses.

Results

The ASQ has good discriminative validity with respect to the separation of PDD from non-PDD diagnoses at all IQ levels, with a cut-off of 15 proving most effective. The differentiation between autism and other varieties of PDD was weaker.

Conclusions

The ASQ is an effective screening questionnaire for PDD.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 175 , Issue 5 , November 1999 , pp. 444 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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Footnotes

Declaration of interest

The study was supported by the Medical Research Council.

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