Abstract

LEDERMAN, Vivian Renne Gerber; GOULART, Ana Lucia; SANTOS, Amélia Miyashiro Nunes dos  and  SCHWARTZMAN, José Salomão. Screening for ASD signs in very low birth weight preterm infants. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2018, vol.20, n.3, pp. 86-99. ISSN 1516-3687.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1980-6906/psicologia.v20n3p86-99.

Prematurity has been associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and the early diagnosis is relevant for this population. This study compares the frequency of positive screening for ASD signs using M-CHAT at 18-24 months (n = 60) and ABC questionnaires at 30-36 months (n = 58) of corrected age in toddlers born prematurely with birth weight < I500g and investigates ASD diagnosis in suspected cases. Toddlers screened positive were evaluated with a DSM-5 diagnostic protocol. 6.7% of toddlers screened positive for M-CHAT and 5.2% for ABC. ASD diagnosis was confirmed for 3.3% of children. An agreement between M-CHAT and ABC questionnaires was low (k = 0.241, p = 0.063). The frequency of suggestive signs of ASD detected by the M-CHAT and the ABC at different moments was similar, and the diagnosis rate of ASD was high. The screening at I8-24 month added to the screening at 30-36 months increased the frequency of positive screening for signs of ASD in preterm.

Keywords : autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; premature infant; very low birth weight preterm infant; preterm.

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