Open AccessUse of the Griffiths mental development scale-Chinese in the assessment of children with autism spectrum disorder and global developmental delay/intellectual disability
Author(s) -
Hui Wang,
Yinping Du,
Zhenghuan Mao,
Yue-Ping Che,
Haifeng Li,
Li Ding,
Huiying Jin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.59
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1536-5964
pISSN - 0025-7974
DOI - 10.1097/md.0000000000025407
Subject(s) - autism spectrum disorder , medicine , autism , global developmental delay , language delay , childhood autism rating scale , intellectual disability , pervasive developmental disorder , language development , developmental disorder , pediatrics , clinical psychology , psychiatry , developmental psychology , psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , gene , phenotype
The Griffiths Mental Development Scale-Chinese (GDS-C) is used in China to assess the development of children from birth to 8 years of age. Language disorders are a common symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and global developmental delay (GDD)/intellectual disability (ID). There is a need to identify distinct clinical characteristics in children suspected of having these 2 disorders, mainly presenting as language disorders. Here, we aimed to use the GDS-C to evaluate children presenting with language problems to identify characteristics that distinguish ASD and GDD/ID. Children with language problems were recruited between August 2018 and December 2019. A total of 150 children aged 25 to 95.2 months were enrolled (50 in the ASD group, 50 in the GDD/ID group, and 50 in the typical group). Each group was subdivided by age as follows: 24–36 months, >36–60 months, and >60–96 months. Developmental characteristics assessed using the GDS-C were analyzed and compared. Both, children with ASD and GDD/ID presented with a lower developmental level than typical children in all six subscales of the GDS-C. No significant differences were observed in the six subscale scores between the ASD and GDD/ID groups, except for the practical reasoning subscale score in the >36 to 60 months subgroups, which was significantly lower in the GDD/ID group than in the ASD group. The developmental imbalance of subscales within the ASD and GDD/ID groups identified troughs in the personal-social, language, and practical reasoning areas in children with ASD and in the language and practical reasoning areas in children with GDD/ID relative to typical children. The GDS-C is a useful, comprehensive tool for the assessment of the developmental state of children with ASD and GDD/ID. Characteristics of practical reasoning subscale help diagnose autism in >36 to 60 months old children.