Open AccessBrief report: Validity and reliability of the Nigerian Autism Screening Questionnaire
Author(s) -
Muideen O. Bakare,
Thomas Frazier,
Arun Karpur,
Abubakar Amina,
Moses K. Nyongesa,
Paul Mwangi,
Pamela Dixon,
Izma Khaliq,
Natalie Gase,
Jonathan Sandstrom,
Nwanze Okidegbe,
Michael Rosanoff,
Kerim Münir,
Andy Shih
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
autism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.899
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1461-7005
pISSN - 1362-3613
DOI - 10.1177/13623613221080250
Subject(s) - autism , autism spectrum disorder , psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , reliability (semiconductor) , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , service (business) , power (physics) , physics , economy , quantum mechanics , economics
Early intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is dependent on reliable methods for early detection. Screening for ASD symptoms is an important strategy in low- and middle-income countries that often lack adequate service infrastructure. This study aims to conduct preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of a tool developed and deployed in Nigeria called the Nigerian Autism Screening Questionnaire (NASQ). Results demonstrated that NASQ, when used as a community-based survey, has a clear factor structure with consistent measurement across age and sex, and that scores from below average to well above average are measured reliably. Future research is needed to examine the performance of this tool against confirmatory ASD diagnosis in screening and diagnostic contexts to further understand the utility and applicability of this tool in the resource-limited Nigerian setting.