title: The Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST): test-retest reliability in a high scoring sample.
abstract: The Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST) is a 37-item parental self-completion questionnaire designed to screen for high-functioning autism spectrum conditions in epidemiological research. The CAST has previously demonstrated good accuracy for use as a screening test, with high sensitivity in studies with primary school aged children in mainstream schools. This study aimed to investigate test-retest reliability of the CAST in a high scoring sample. To this end, 73 parents filled in the second CAST (CAST-2) within approximately 2 months of the first administration of the CAST (CAST-1). Agreement above and below the cut-point of 15 was investigated. The kappa statistic for agreement (<15 versus > or =15) was 0.41. It was found that 70 percent (95% CI: 58, 80) of children did not move across the cut-point of 15. The correlation between the two test scores was 0.67 (Spearman's rho). The CAST shows moderate test-retest reliability in a high scoring sample, further evidence that it is a relatively robust screening tool for epidemiological research.
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, UK. cla29@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stott
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baron-Cohen
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brayne
mesh_terms: D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004519:Education, Special; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008282:Mainstreaming, Education; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires