English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Autism is a complex developmental disorder that is not fully understood and is still debated. Till recently, there is no standardised treatment option for autism, earlier the diagnosis better the prognosis but there are only few Indian studies to establish the relationship between early diagnosis and effectiveness of treatment in autistic children and hence this study was conducted. METHODS This was a cross sectional study. Parents of 51 autistic children were asked to fill the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2) questionnaire,1 which is a standard screening questionnaire and the CARS-0 and CARS-1 scores were studied. The therapists of the respondents were asked to fill CARS-2 questionnaire based on the characteristics of the respondent when he / she was diagnosed and before he / she started his / her treatment. This score has been documented as CARS-0 score. Then another CARS-2 test was scored by the therapists / researcher based on the present characteristics of the respondent. The relationship between CARS0 score and CARS-1 score, the age of diagnosis and the difference in CARS score were investigated based on paired t-test and Pearson’s correlation. Analysis was done using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. RESULTS CARS scores decreased after treatment and the decrease in CARS 1 scores was more in age groups of 0 - 3 and 3 - 5 years as compared to 5 - 10 years. Pearson’s correlation was done to study the association between the age of diagnosis and the difference between CARS-0 and CARS-1 scores and a negative correlation was seen. CONCLUSIONS There was a significant correlation between the age of diagnosis and the treatment outcome in autistic children. KEYWORDS Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, CARS Questionnaire, CARS 0, CARS 1