The validity of Pervasive Developmental Disorders Screening Questionnaire 1-4 short version

Abstract

Abstract

          Objective  To test the sensitivity, specificity and look for the appropriateness of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Screening Questionnaire 1-4 short version for screening autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the Child Psychiatric Clinic and Developmental Clinic.

          Materials and methods  Part I, to study the validity of the PDDSQ-R administered by parents of 383 new patients, age 1-4 years old at the Child Psychiatric Clinic, Yuwaprasart Waithayopathum Hospital. The cut-off point that differentiate between children with ASD and children with other psychiatric/ developmental disorders were tested by using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Part II, to study how do parents of 32 new patients aged 1-4 years old administer the PDDSQ-R in the Child Psychiatric Clinic/Developmental Clinic Network.

          Results  The PDDSQ 1-4 short version can use to screen children with ASD at the cut-off point above 7 score, area under curve=0.79, with sensitivity at 75.4%, specificity at 58%. Most of the powerful differentiator items that differentiate between children with ASD and children with other psychiatric/developmental disorders are the items of social-skills deficit. At the Child Psychiatric Clinic/Developmental Clinic Network, 93.8% of parents administered the PDDSQ 1-4 short version by themselves.

          Conclusion  The PDDSQ 1-4 short version has good validity, and convenient (or handy, user friendly) for screening those autisitc children who are on waiting list at the Child Psychiatric Clinic/Developmental Clinic in order to have them received early treatment planning and inervention before other patients.