Screening accuracy and cut-offs of the Polish version of Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales-Developmental Profile Infant-Toddler Checklist

by Mateusz Sobieski, Anna Kopszak, Sylwia Wrona, Maria Magdalena Bujnowska-Fedak

The first stage of diagnosing autism spectrum disorders usually involves population screening to detect children at risk. This study aims to assess the predictive convergent validity of the Polish version of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales-Developmental Profile Infant-Toddler Checklist (CSBS-DP ITC) with the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS), evaluate its sensitivity and specificity and assess the cut-off points for the possibility of using this questionnaire in population screening among children aged 6 to 24 months.

The study was conducted among 602 children from the general population who had previously participated in the earlier phase of validation of the questionnaire for Polish conditions. The collected data were statistically processed to calculate the accuracy (i.e. sensitivity, specificity) of the questionnaire.

In individual age groups, the sensitivity of the questionnaire varies from 0.667 to 0.750, specificity from 0.854 to 0.939, positive predictive value from 0.261 to 0.4 and negative predictive value—from 0.979 to 0.981. Screening accuracy ranges from 0.847 to 0.923 depending on the age group. The adopted cut-off points are 21 points for children aged 9–12 months, 36 for children aged 13–18 months, 39 for children aged 19–24 months. Cut-off points could not be established for children aged 6–8 months. The convergent validity values with the ASRS ranged from -0.28 to -0.431 and were highest in the group of the oldest children.

These results indicate that the Polish version of the CSBS-DP ITC can be used as an effective tool for ASD universal screening.