title: Brief Report: An Exploratory Study of the Diagnostic Reliability for Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. lauren.taylor@kcl.ac.uk.|Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia. lauren.taylor@kcl.ac.uk.|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. lauren.taylor@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Lauren J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.|University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Valsamma
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eapen
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.|Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Murray
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maybery
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.|Western Australian Autism Diagnostician's Forum, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Midford
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.|Research Department, AEIOU Foundation, Queensland, Australia.|School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paynter
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
authors.forename: Lyndsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quarmby
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.|Disability Services Commission, West Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.|Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.|Developmental Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.|Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.|Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew J O
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Whitehouse
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014741:Video Recording
keywords: Diagnosis; Reliability