Study Damps Fears on Autism Change
PHILADELPHIA—Proposed new diagnostic criteria for autism don't
appear to reduce the number of children diagnosed with that condition,
according to preliminary data presented at the American Psychiatric Association
annual meeting on Sunday.
Those findings could damp the controversy that has surrounded
suggested changes to the main psychiatric diagnostic manual in the U.S., the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, about how autism
and related disorders that are characterized by social impairments and
repetitive behavior are categorized.
One of the main changes, which has yet to be finished, recommends
combining several disorders, including Asperger's syndrome and "pervasive
developmental delay not otherwise specified," with autism into one broad
category known as autism-spectrum disorder.
In January, researchers at Yale University presented an analysis
that suggested the new criteria wouldn't diagnose every child who had received
the diagnosis using the current criteria, which might lead to service being
denied to some 35% of currently diagnosed children.
Diagnoses can be important for parents to persuade their health
insurers to pay for treatment and for schools to cover special-education
services.
On Sunday, the committee overseeing the changes to the autism
criteria announced data from so-called field trials conducted by several
academic centers showing that children diagnosed with autism or related
disorders using the current criteria almost always received a diagnosis using
the proposed new criteria as well.
The prevalence of autism using both criteria was essentially
unchanged, though there were a few cases where children were diagnosed by one
set of criteria and not the other, according to Susan Swedo, head of the work
group and a senior researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health. Over
600 children were tested as part of these trials.
The concern that children who need services for autism-related
symptoms will be denied them because of proposed changes to the autism
diagnostic criteria is "not true," said Dr. Swedo.
The group proposed the more-encompassing autism-spectrum disorder
label, and also introduced a separate, new disorder for children with
social-communication issues but lacking other features of autism. The goal is
to have clinicians better distinguish among certain developmental disorders.
More accurate diagnosis will help children get the right services
they need, said Dr. Swedo.
Write to Shirley S. Wang at shirley.wang@wsj.com
A
version of this article appeared May 7, 2012, on page A3 in some U.S. editions
of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Study Damps Fears on Autism
Change.
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