Neuropediatrics 2006; 37 - THP139
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-945962

COMPARISON OF THE DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS FOR ASPERGER SYNDROME

K Kopra 1, T Nieminen-von Wendt 1, J Paavonen 1, L von Wendt 1
  • 1Dept. of Child Neurology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Objectives: Several different diagnostic sets of criteria exist for Asperger syndrome (AS), but no there is 'gold standard'. The objective of this study was to compare four diagnostic sets of criteria for AS (Gillbergs', Szatmari's; ICD-10 and DSM-IV.

Methods: The series consisted of 36 children (age 7–18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, who had been referred to the Helsinki university child neurology unit for confirmation of diagnosis. Interviews using the four sets of criteria were carried out and the agreement of results analysed primarly using Kappa statistics.

Results: ICD-10 criteria were met by 25, whereas 20 met the DSM-IV criteria, 10 met the criteria by Gillberg&Gillberg and 26 met the set of criteria by Szatmari and Co. Four of the 36 children did not fulfill any of the four sets of criteria for AS and five children met the criteria according to all four sets. The Kappa coeffecients were generally low and the best correspondence was between ICD-10 and DSM-IV.

Conclusions: The diagnostic delineation of AS has not been fully settled and this is reflected also by highly diverging figures for incidence. The disagreement between currently used diagnostic sets contributes to this confusion. The diagnostic criteria for AS need revision and an international level consensus.