ArticleAlcohol, clinical & experimental research2023
Validation of the FASD-Tree as a screening tool for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Article in Alcohol, clinical & experimental research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal alcohol exposure and associations with physical size, dysmorphology and neurodevelopment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Validation of the ND-PAE Diagnosis in Children with Heavy Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Does a Biochemical Approach Facilitate the Diagnosis of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Neonatal Period?International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- BRAIN-online: An online cognitive and behavioral screening tool for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Reduction of APOE accounts for neurobehavioral deficits in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
- Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders prevention and clinical guidelines research - workshop report.BMC proceedings · 2024Article
- Adaptive, Externalizing, and Internalizing Behavior of Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: A Comparison of Three Parent-Report Questionnaires.Developmental neuropsychology · 2024Article
- Machine learning approaches to the identification of children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure: A narrative review.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Review
- Preserving Families of Children in Child Welfare with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Challenges and Opportunities.Child welfare · 2023Article
- Results of a screening tool for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are associated with neuropsychological and behavioral measures.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAs many as 80% of individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed. This study tests the accuracy and validity of a web-based screening tool (the FASD-Tree) for identifying children and adolescents with FASD.
methodsChildren with histories of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and controls (N = 302, including 224 with PAE and 78 controls) were examined for physical signs of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and parents completed behavioral questionnaires. Data were entered into the FASD-Tree, a web-based decision tree application. The FASD-Tree provided two outcomes: a dichotomous indicator (yes/no) and a numeric risk score (0 to 5), which have been shown separately to identify children with PAE and neurobehavioral impairment and to correlate with neurobehavioral outcomes. Overall accuracy (ACC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for the decision tree, risk score, and their combination. Misclassified cases were examined for systematic bias.
resultsThe FASD-Tree was successful in accurately identifying youth with histories of PAE and the subgroup of individuals with FASD, indicating its validity as an FASD screening tool. Overall accuracy rates for FASD-Tree components ranged from 75.0% to 84.1%, and both the decision tree outcome and risk score, and their combination, resulted in fair to good discrimination (area under the curve = 0.722 to 0.862) of youth with histories of PAE or FASD. While most participants were correctly classified, those who were misclassified differed in IQ and attention. Race, ethnicity, and sex did not affect the results.
conclusionThe FASD-Tree is not a biomarker of PAE and does not provide definitive evidence of prenatal alcohol exposure. Rather it is an accurate and valid screening tool for FASD and can be used by clinicians who suspect that a patient has a history of PAE, even if the exposure is unknown.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.