Value Of Autism Screening Checklists In The Early Identification Of Autism Spectrum Disorder

ObjectiveTo evaluate the value of autism screening checklists in the early identification of autism spectrum disorder(ASD).MethodsA total of 2571 children who attended Children ’ s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and completed autism screening and diagnostic test were enrolled as subjects,among whom 2074 were diagnosed with ASD,261 were diagnosed with global developmental delay(GDD),206 were diagnosed with developmental language disorder(DLD),and 30 had normal development.The sensitivity,specificity,and optimal threshold value of Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers(M-CHAT)and Autism Behavior Checklist(ABC)were evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.ResultsM-CHAT had a high sensitivity of 88.3% and a poor specificity of36.0%,and its sensitivity decreased with age,its sensitivity maintained above 80% and its accuracy maintained above 75% for children aged 16 to<48 months.ABC had a high specificity of 87.3% and a poor sensitivity of27.2%,with an optimal cut-off value of 47.5 based on the ROC curve analysis.Parallel test or series test showed that the combination of M-CHAT and ABC did not significantly improve screening effect,and the multivariate linear regression analysis showed a specificity of 85.8% and a sensitivity of 56.6%.ConclusionsN-CHAT has high sensitivity and slightly poor specificity in screening,with a better screening effect in children aged 16 to <48 months.ABC has a high specificity and a poor sensitivity,which might lead to missed diagnosis.The specificity of multiple linear regression model is similar to ABC,and the sensitivity is higher than that of ABC.