Autism screening at 18 months of age: a comparison of the Q-CHAT-10 and M-CHAT screeners.

The final analysed sample was 408 children, not all 11,876 screened children, so absolute screening sensitivity for the population cannot be estimated. Many contacted parents declined participation, especially in the screen-negative group, and participating parents were more highly educated than national rates, so the sample is not fully representative. Children exposed to English less than 50% of the time and children not yet walking or scooting were excluded. The M-CHAT-R follow-up interview was not initiated or completed for 23 positive reports. Autism diagnoses were made without a standard caregiver report tool such as the ADI-R, and the paper states results may have been different had such a tool been used. The Q-CHAT-10 used here included pictures, and the impact compared with the original version is unknown. Results are limited to children aged 16 to 20 months and cannot be extended to older ages.

Funding came from the National Institute of Mental Health, Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care - Greater Manchester, Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. Some pediatric offices received discounts for using the CHADIS system. The supplied text does not state author competing interests.

Do not conclude that Q-CHAT-10-O is a diagnostic test for autism. It was evaluated only as a screening tool at 18 months, and the paper states that most children screening positive will not be confirmed as having autism.