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The autism symptom interview, school‐age: A brief telephone interview to identify autism spectrum disorders in 5‐to‐12‐year‐old children
Author(s) -
Bishop Somer L.,
Huerta Marisela,
Gotham Katherine,
Alexandra Havdahl Karoline,
Pickles Andrew,
Duncan Amie,
Hus Bal Vanessa,
Croen Lisa,
Lord Catherine
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
autism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.656
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1939-3806
pISSN - 1939-3792
DOI - 10.1002/aur.1645
Subject(s) - autism diagnostic observation schedule , autism , autism spectrum disorder , medical diagnosis , nonverbal communication , psychology , telephone interview , clinical psychology , intellectual disability , psychiatry , medicine , developmental psychology , social science , pathology , sociology
This study reports on the initial validation of the Autism Symptom Interview (ASI), School‐Age, a brief (15–20 min) phone interview derived from questions from the Autism Diagnostic Interview‐Revised (ADI‐R). The ASI, School‐Age was administered by interviewers with minimal training to parents of children ages 5 to 12 who had all been previously identified with (or referred for assessment of) ASD or another neurodevelopmental disorder. Children then underwent a comprehensive assessment to determine a best‐estimate clinical diagnosis of ASD ( n = 159) or non‐ASD (e.g. language disorder, intellectual disability, ADHD; n = 130). Clinicians who conducted the assessments were blind to ASI results. ROC analyses compared ASI scores to clinical diagnosis. Due to the small number of participants with non‐ASD diagnoses who were classified as nonverbal (i.e. not yet using phrases on a daily basis), it was not possible to assess sensitivity and specificity of the nonverbal algorithm in this sample. The verbal algorithm yielded a sensitivity of 0.87 (95% CI = 0.81–0.92) and a specificity of 0.62 (95% CI = 0.53–0.70). When used in conjunction with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), sensitivity and specificity were 0.82 (95% CI = 0.74–0.88) and 0.92 (95% CI = 0.86–0.96), respectively. Internal consistency and test‐retest reliability were both excellent. Particularly for verbal school age children, the ASI may serve as a useful tool to more quickly ascertain or classify children with ASD for research or clinical triaging purposes. Additional data collection is underway to determine the utility of the ASI in children who are younger and/or nonverbal. Autism Res 2017, 10: 78–88 . © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.