title: The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers: an initial study investigating the early detection of autism and pervasive developmental disorders.
abstract: Autism, a severe disorder of development, is difficult to detect in very young children. However, children who receive early intervention have improved long-term prognoses. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT), consisting of 23 yes/no items, was used to screen 1,293 children. Of the 58 children given a diagnostic/developmental evaluation, 39 were diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum. Six items pertaining to social relatedness and communication were found to have the best discriminability between children diagnosed with and without autism/PDD. Cutoff scores were created for the best items and the total checklist. Results indicate that the M-CHAT is a promising instrument for the early detection of autism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269-1020, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fein
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity