ArticleJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry2012
Sensitivity and specificity of proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder.
Article in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 98 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
98 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of What Barriers and Facilitators Prevent and Enable Physical Healthcare Services Access for Autistic Adults.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2019Pooled it
- The Effects of DSM-5 Criteria on Number of Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2015Pooled it
- How will DSM-5 affect autism diagnosis? A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2014Pooled it
- Defective ventral neurogenesis due to midfetal Chd8 mutation drives autistic-like behavior in mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Adult Females with Late Diagnosis of ASD and ADHD in the UK.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Short-term and Long-term Stability of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) Calibrated Comparison Scores (CCS) and Classification Scores in Youth with Down Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome with Intellectual Disability.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Targeted metabolomics in children with autism spectrum disorder with and without developmental regression.Metabolic brain disease · 2025Article
- Machine Learning Differentiation of Autism Spectrum Sub-Classifications.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Article
- Examining Language, Speech and Behaviour Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia Using the Arabic Version of Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Third Edition.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Resources, Problems and Challenges of Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Support System in Poland.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
- Defining in Detail and Evaluating Reliability of DSM-5 Criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Among Children.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2022Article
- Functional Connectome-Based Predictive Modeling in Autism.Biological psychiatry · 2022Review
- Development of a phenotype ontology for autism spectrum disorder by natural language processing on electronic health records.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2022Article
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Criteria Changes and Impacts on the Diagnostic Scales-Utility of the 2nd and 3rd Versions of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS).Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Article
- The Diagnosis of Autism: From Kanner to DSM-III to DSM-5 and Beyond.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Review
- Identification of miRNA-mRNA Network in Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Bioinformatics Method.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2021Article
- How well are DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD represented in standardized diagnostic instruments?European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2021Article
- Prolonged Auditory Brainstem Response in Universal Hearing Screening of Newborns with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2021Article
38 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study evaluated the potential impact of proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
methodThe study focused on a sample of 933 participants evaluated during the DSM-IV field trial; 657 carried a clinical diagnosis of an ASD, and 276 were diagnosed with a non-autistic disorder. Sensitivity and specificity for proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria were evaluated using field trial symptom checklists as follows: individual field trial checklist items (e.g., nonverbal communication); checklist items grouped together as described by a single DSM-5 symptom (e.g., nonverbal and verbal communication); individual DSM-5 criterion (e.g., social-communicative impairment); and overall diagnostic criteria.
resultsWhen applying proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD, 60.6% (95% confidence interval: 57%-64%) of cases with a clinical diagnosis of an ASD met revised DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD. Overall specificity was high, with 94.9% (95% confidence interval: 92%-97%) of individuals accurately excluded from the spectrum. Sensitivity varied by diagnostic subgroup (autistic disorder = 0.76; Asperger's disorder = 0.25; pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified = 0.28) and cognitive ability (IQ < 70 = 0.70; IQ ≥ 70 = 0.46).
conclusionsProposed DSM-5 criteria could substantially alter the composition of the autism spectrum. Revised criteria improve specificity but exclude a substantial portion of cognitively able individuals and those with ASDs other than autistic disorder. A more stringent diagnostic rubric holds significant public health ramifications regarding service eligibility and compatibility of historical and future research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.