Autism screening questionnaire: Diagnostic validity

Abstract

Background: Good interview and diagnostic measures for autism and other pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) are available but there is a lack of a good screening questionnaire. Aims: To develop and test a screening questionnaire based on items in the best available diagnostic interview - the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R). Method: A 40-item scale, the Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ), was developed and tested on a sample of 160 individuals with PDD and 40 with non-PDD diagnoses. Results: The ASQ has good discriminative validity with respect to the separation of PDD from non- PDD diagnoses at all IQ levels, with a cut-off of 15 proving most effective. The differentiation between autism and other varieties of PDD was weaker. Conclusions: The ASQ is an effective screening questionnaire for PDD. Declaration of interest: The study was supported by the Medical Research Council.