Suchergebnisse

Aims  To explore the validity of Developmental Behaviour Checklist‐Autism Screening Algorithm (DBC‐ASA) as a screening instrument for autism among children with intellectual disabilities.Method  Data were collected from the case notes of 109 children with intellectual disabilities attending a specialist clinic in the UK.Results  The mean score of the DBC‐ASA was significantly higher (t = 6.1; P < 0.001) among children with autism compared with those without. The DBC‐ASA score of 20 yielded a sensitivity of 0.9 and specificity of 0.6, and a score of 18 yielded a sensitivity of 0.92 and specificity of 0.5. The receiver–operating characteristic for the DBC‐ASA score of 20 yielded a large area under the curve (AUC) (0.864) for children with intellectual disabilities when compared against the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, Research Diagnostic Criteria (ICD10 DRC) diagnosis of autism.Conclusions  The DBC‐ASA score may be able to discriminate between children with intellectual disabilities with and without autism.

AbstractICD‐10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research (DCR) based on the Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines for Mental and Behavioural Disorders were used to assign diagnoses to 38 people with mental retardation (MR) who had additional behavioural or psychiatric disorders. Problems were encountered with criteria for schizophrenia and related disorders. Recommendations were made regarding some diagnostic criteria, the method of coding diagnoses, and the need for additional guidance when classifying disorders associated with MR.Multiaxial classification during the field trial allowed mental and physical health problems and the severity of MR to be summarised in a standard format, assisting record keeping and the communication of information. The DCR represent an advance on previous diagnostic systems, and with additional axes (now being developed for use with a MR fascicle) will be a useful research tool. Psychiatric diagnoses and classificatory systems still suffer from the lack of external validating criteria or specific treatment responses for many disorders within them, and this poses special problems when the person with the disorder has difficulties with communication.