Friday, May 21, 2010
Franklin Hall B Level 4 (Philadelphia Marriott Downtown)
1:00 PM
C. M. Harker
,
Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
E. M. Reisinger
,
School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
A. D. Sherman
,
Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
S. Shin
,
School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
D. S. Mandell
,
Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
Background: Though intended as a diagnostic tool, there is an increasing trend in autism research to use the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) as a severity and outcome measure. In response to the growing need for a measure that would allow for longitudinal comparisons of symptom severity, Gotham et al. (2009) developed a revised ADOS algorithm, allowing for across-module comparisons, and can be a useful tool when evaluating severity over time. To date, however, this algorithm has been used only for long-term comparisons, not for periods of time generally used to test interventions. Due to the relatively short time span between baseline and outcome assessments in intervention studies, students who move from one algorithm age group to another during the study may receive a more severe symptom severity score once their raw score is calibrated in an older age bracket.
Objectives: To examine the utility of the ADOS symptom severity algorithm as an outcome measure in a 9-month behavioral intervention study.
Methods: The sample included 153 students from 39 K-2nd grade autism support classrooms in a large, urban school district that were participating in a randomized trial of two classroom-based autism interventions. Students were assessed at the beginning (W-1) and end (W-2) of the academic year using the ADOS Modules 1-3. Trajectories of the group were calculated using both the original and revised ADOS algorithms.
Results: 21.6% of the sample changed ADOS modules from W 1-2. 14% of the sample aged into a different algorithm age bracket over the course of the academic year. There was no statistically significant difference in symptom severity score from W-1 (Mean=6.91, SD=1.74) to W-2 (Mean= 6.41, SD= 1.79) for the 22 students who changed age brackets. There was a significant improvement (p<.01) in symptom severity score between W-1 (Mean=6.77, SD= 2.01) and W- 2 (Mean= 5.98, SD= 2.21) for the remaining131 students.
Conclusions: Analysis is ongoing; preliminary results suggest the utility of the ADOS severity algorithm for assessing change in students over a relatively brief period of time.
