Screening Cases Within a Statewide Autism Registry

Abstract

Parents and caregivers of 70 children enrolled in a university-based, statewide autism registry ( M age = 9.5 years) completed two questionnaires, one generated from criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition—Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) and the other the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), to determine the number of cases likely to have autism. Based on DSM-IV-TR questionnaire (DSM-Q) results, 94.3% met criteria for probable autism. In contrast, 88.6% met criteria for possible autism with the SCQ. The two instruments agreed on 89% of the cases, and the frequencies of cases meeting criteria on each measure were not statistically different (p > .05). Results are discussed in terms of their application to the creation of local autism registries.

Keywords

autism spectrum disorders research registry Social Communication Questionnaire diagnostic

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