Brief report: independent validation of autism spectrum disorder case status in the Utah Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network Site

J Autism Dev Disord. 2015 Mar;45(3):873-80. doi: 10.1007/s10803-014-2187-6.

Abstract

An independent validation was conducted of the Utah Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network's (UT-ADDM) classification of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). UT-ADDM final case status (n = 90) was compared with final case status as determined by independent external expert reviewers (EERs). Inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.84), specificity [0.83 (95 % CI 0.74-0.90)], and sensitivity [0.99 (95 % CI 0.96-1.00)] were high for ASD case versus non-case classification between UT-ADDM and EER. At least one EER disagreed with UT-ADDM on ASD final case status on nine out of 30 records; however, all three EERs disagreed with UT-ADDM for only one record. Findings based on limited data suggest that children with ASD as identified by UT-ADDM are consistently classified as ASD cases by independent autism experts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / diagnosis*
  • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / epidemiology
  • Developmental Disabilities / diagnosis*
  • Developmental Disabilities / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Population Surveillance*
  • Prevalence
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Utah