Application of response to name in early identification of infants with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Objective To explore the behavioral characteristics of response to name in 16-30 months old infants with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), in order to provide a theoretical basis for the early identification and early diagnosis. Methods Two professionals, according to the scoring criteria and using video analysis methods, evaluated the response score (RS), reaction time (RT), duration time (DT) and the rate (RR) of response to their names among ASD infants (ASD group, 61 cases), who were diagnosed at Child Developmental and Behavioral Center, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from April to December 2017.Then they were compared with infants with developmental delays (DD group, 32 cases) and neuro-typical (NT group, 33 cases) infants.Finally, researchers predicted the diagnosis for ASD infants according to the behavioral indicators, which had significant diffe-rences compared with other groups. Results Compared with DD group [RS 2(1) score, RT 1.32(4.65) s, DT 2.69(1.84) s] and NT group[RS 2(1) score, RT 1.37(4.37) s, DT 2.90(2.23) s], RS was significantly lower[1(1) score], RT was significantly longer [5.87(4.64) s], and DT was significantly shorter [0.77 (1.88) s]in ASD group, and the differences were statistically significant(H=-4.91, -5.94; 5.36, 5.41; -4.47, -5.78; all P 0.05). The RR was significantly lower in ASD group [0.25(0.50)]and DD group[0.50(0.25)], compared with NT group[0.75(0.50)], and the differences were statistically significant(H=-6.39, -4.45, all P 0.05). When detecting ASD from ASD and NT infants, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.889 (P<0.01); when detecting ASD from ASD and DD infants, AUC was 0.924 (P<0.01); when detecting ASD from all infants, AUC was 0.868 (P<0.01), according to all indicators of response to name. Conclusions There are significant differences between ASD infants and DD and NT infants in response to name domain.Behavioral characteristics in the procedure of response to name can predict ASD well.Response to name as an early social behavioral indicator, being tested at 2 years old, is still of importance for the early identification and early diagnosis of ASD. Key words: Autism spectrum disorder; Developmental delay; Response to name; Early identification; Video analysis