Gatica-Bahamonde, Gabriel, Mendez-Fadol, Alejandra, Sánchez-Sepulveda, Francisca, Peñailillo-Diaz, Constanza, van Kessel, Robin 
ORCID: 0000-0001-6309-6343, Czabanowska, Katarzyna and Roman-Urrestarazu, Andres
(2024)
Testing an online screening for autism in the COVID-19 pandemic: a psychometric study of the Q-CHAT-24 in Chilean toddlers.
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15.
ISSN 1664-0640
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Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to examine some psychometric characteristics of the Chilean-adapted version of the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT-24) (24) in a group of unselected children (community sample). This version was administered remotely through an online version during the pandemic period to caregivers of children, aged 18-24 months, registered in four primary care polyclinics of the Health Service Araucanía Sur, Chile. Methods: An intentional non-probabilistic sampling was used. Three hundred and thirteen toddlers were examined. Participants completed an online version of the Q-CHAT-24 which was disseminated through the REDCap platform. Evidence of reliability through internal consistency and evidence of predictive validity through ROC curve analysis were realized. Results: The mean age of the children evaluated was 21.16 months. The Shapiro-Wilk test revealed that Q-CHAT-24 scores was normally distributed. 71 cases (23.12%) scored 38 points or more on the Q-CHAT-24, qualifying as Autistic Risk. 48 cases (15.63%) were confirmed as autistic through the ADOS-2 Module T. All items were positively correlated with Q-CHAT-24 total score. All items were positively correlated with Q-CHAT-24 total score. Internal consistency was acceptable for the Q-CHAT-24 (Cronbach ́s α=0.78). The internal consistencies were analyzed for the Q-CHAT-24 Factors, and they were good for factor 1 “Communication and Social Interaction” (Cronbach ́s α=0.85) and acceptable for factor 2 “Restrictive and Repetitive Patterns” (Cronbach ́s α=0.74). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed. The AUC values were 0.93 with statistical significance (p<0.01). For the cut-off point of 38, the Sensitivity, Specificity and Youden index values were 0.89, 0.8 and 0.7, respectively. The Positive Predictive Value (PPV) was 86% and the Negative Predictive Value (NPV) was 85%. Conclusions: In accordance with the objectives of this study, evidence of reliability and predictive validity was demonstrated for the Q-CHAT-24 in this Chilean population. More importantly, this study provides Sensitivity and Specificity data for a remote application version of an autism screening tool already validated in Chile. The implications of this have to do with the possibility of establishing a remote assessment system for children at risk of autism on a population scale.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry |
| Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors |
| Divisions: | LSE Health |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Jul 2024 18:03 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Nov 2024 17:48 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124214 |
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