Comparison between a Mandarin Chinese version of the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test and the Clancy Autism Behaviour Scale in mainland China.
A Mandarin Chinese version of the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST) and Clancy Autism Behaviour Scale (CABS) were applied to 150 children aged 4-11 years old from clinical settings and mainstream schools in Beijing. All the children were further assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). The validity of two instruments on screening of ASC was examined and compared using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The validity of CAST (sensitivity: 89%, specificity: 80%, PPV: 70%) was better than the CABS (sensitivity: 58%, specificity: 84%, PPV: 65%). The area under the curve (AUC) of the CAST (AUC=0.90) was significantly higher than the CABS (AUC=0.79, p=0.0002). The Mandarin CAST demonstrated a better validity in distinguishing children with ASC from children without ASC. It is an acceptable candidate as a screening instrument for ASC in large epidemiological study in Chinese population.
Cambridge Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Forvie Site, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, UK; Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, CB2 2AH, UK; The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong. Electronic address: xs227@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
Xiang
X
Sun
Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, CB2 2AH, UK.
Carrie
C
Allison
Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, CB2 2AH, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
Bonnie
B
Auyeung
MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, CB2 0SR, UK.
Fiona E
FE
Matthews
Paediatrics Department, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, Xishiku Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing 100034, China.
Zhixiang
Z
Zhang
Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, CB2 2AH, UK.
Simon
S
Baron-Cohen
Cambridge Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Forvie Site, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, UK.
Carol
C
Brayne
D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Autism; CABS; CAST; China; Diagnosis; Epidemiology; Screening