Toddler Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy.

Toddler Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy. J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Jan 08;: Authors: Sánchez-García AB, Galindo-Villardón P, Nieto-Librero AB, Martín-Rodero H, Robins DL Abstract Great efforts focus on early detection of autism spectrum disorder, although some scientists and policy-makers have questioned early universal screening. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the different screening tools. Several electronic databases were used to identify published studies. A Bayesian model was used to estimate the screening accuracy. The pooled sensitivity was 0.72 (95% CI 0.61-0.81), and the specificity was 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99). Subgroup analyses to remove heterogeneity indicated sensitivity was 0.77 (95% CI 0.69-0.84), and specificity was 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-0.99; SD ≤ 0.01). Level 1 screening tools for ASD showed consistent statistically significant results and therefore are adequate to detect autism at 14-36 months. PMID: 30617550 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: research