Brief Report: An Exploratory Study of the Diagnostic Reliability for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Lauren J Taylor; Valsamma Eapen; Murray Maybery; Sue Midford; Jessica Paynter; Lyndsay Quarmby; Timothy Smith; Katrina Williams; Andrew J O Whitehouse

doi:10.1007/s10803-017-3054-z

Brief Report: An Exploratory Study of the Diagnostic Reliability for Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2017 May;47(5):1551-1558. doi: 10.1007/s10803-017-3054-z.

Authors

Lauren J Taylor^{1

2

3}, Valsamma Eapen^{4

5}, Murray Maybery^{6

4}, Sue Midford^{4

7}, Jessica Paynter^{4

8

9}, Lyndsay Quarmby¹⁰, Timothy Smith^{4

11}, Katrina Williams^{4

12

13

14}, Andrew J O Whitehouse^{4

15}

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. [email protected].
² Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia. [email protected].
³ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, Henry Wellcome Building, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, Box PO77, London, SE5 8AF, UK. [email protected].
⁴ Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁷ Western Australian Autism Diagnostician's Forum, Perth, Australia.
⁸ Research Department, AEIOU Foundation, Queensland, Australia.
⁹ School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
¹⁰ Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
¹¹ Disability Services Commission, West Perth, Australia.
¹² Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
¹³ Developmental Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁴ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁵ Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

PMID: 28233080
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3054-z

Abstract

Previous research shows inconsistency in clinician-assigned diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We conducted an exploratory study that examined the concordance of diagnoses between a multidisciplinary assessment team and a range of independent clinicians throughout Australia. Nine video-taped Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) assessments were collected from two Australian sites. Twenty-seven Australian health professionals each observed two video-recordings and rated the degree to which the individual met the DSM-5 criteria for ASD. There was 100% agreement on the diagnostic classification for only 3 of the 9 video clips (33%), with the remaining 6 clips (66%) reaching poor reliability. In addition, only 24% of the participating clinicians achieved 'good' or 'excellent' levels of agreement (Cohen's kappa > 0.6) with the original ASD assessment. These findings have implications for clinical guidelines for ASD assessments.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Reliability.

MeSH terms

Adult
Australia
Autism Spectrum Disorder / diagnosis*
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Patient Care Team*
Reproducibility of Results
Symptom Assessment / methods
Symptom Assessment / statistics & numerical data*
Video Recording