Abstract: (11467 Views)
Background and purpose: Tools of screening and diagnosis of autism result in early diagnosis in childhood which are of great benefit for early intervention. This study investigated these tools from various aspects to provide a comprehensive view.
Materials and methods: This research was a narrative review study on tools of screening and diagnosis of autism. A search was conducted using some databases including Iran medex, SID, Magiran, Google scholar, Medline, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science. The tools were then investigated regarding the date of publishing, age range of participants, method of administration/format, subscales, the duration of each test and psychometric features.
Results: In this study, 25 tests were reviewed of which 14 tests were related to screening and 11tests were used for diagnosis. The tests were all in forms of questionnaire, checklist, observation and interview. The oldest test was invented in 1980 and the most recent one was developed in 2013. In terms of age, minimum and maximum ages for implementation of test were listed six months old and 22 years old. The minimum and maximum times to administrate were five minutes and 90-180 minutes, respectively.
Conclusion: We found that some tests have been used more because of their proficient subscales in recent years. Also, comparing recent tests to old tests revealed their evolutionary path.