Performance of the Autism Observation Scale for Infants with community-ascertained infants showing early signs of autism

Often included within ‘high-risk sibling’ studies, the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) has only one independent replication study and no evaluation with community-ascertained cohorts. We administered the AOSI and established clinical measures with 103 infants (68% male) at ‘high autism likelihood’ on the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance - Revised (SACS-R) tool, at 9–14 months of age and again 6 months later. AOSI Total scores showed adequate internal consistency and strong inter-rater agreement (live- or video-coded) and were approximately normally distributed at each visit. Modest significant associations presented between Time 1 AOSI scores and concurrent developmental/adaptive skills measures. Concurrent associations were stronger at Time 2, particularly between AOSI Total and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Social Affect scores. AOSI scores were only moderately associated across Time 1 and 2 assessments, as were Time 1 AOSI with Time 2 ADOS scores. These data from a clinically indicated cohort broadly replicate previous AOSI validity accounts from ‘high-risk sibling’ studies, particularly beyond the first year. Strong inter-rater agreement indicates viable AOSI inclusion within protocols necessitating blinded evaluation (e.g. intervention trials). Moderate within-participant stability suggests that, like ‘high-risk siblings,’ community-ascertained infants experience variable early trajectories. Lay Abstract We investigated whether a commonly used research assessment – the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) – accurately measures autism behaviours among infants showing early signs of autism identified within the community. The AOSI is often included in studies tracking the development of infants at increased likelihood of autism, such as the infant siblings of diagnosed children. However, the suitability of this measure has not previously been tested with community-referred infants. We administered the AOSI with infants when aged 9 to 14 months and again 6 months later. Our researchers – independent of the AOSI development team and newly trained on this measure – were able to administer the brief interactive assessment and score it accurately. The infants’ AOSI scores were linked to their scores on other established and validated clinical assessments, particularly at the second visit when average age was 18 months. Stronger correspondence of AOSI and other scores at this second visit suggests early autism behaviours are better established and more consistent by 18 months of age, even though these infants showed clear enough signs of possible autism to prompt referral to our study around 12 months of age. However, the moderate association of AOSI scores over time suggests that, like infant siblings – who mostly do not develop autism – community-identified infants showing early signs may also have variable developmental pathways in early life.

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Construct validity of the First-Year Inventory (FYI Version 2.0) in 12-month-olds at high-risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361320947325 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 136236132094732

Author(s):

Helen Y Lee ◽

Cheryl Vigen ◽

Lonnie Zwaigenbaum ◽

Isabel M Smith ◽

Jessica Brian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

High Risk ◽

Construct Validity ◽

Social Communication ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

First Year ◽

Infant Behavior ◽

High Risk Infant ◽

Observation Scale

This study examines the construct validity of the First-Year Inventory 2.0 with respect to other established instruments in a sample of high-risk infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The First-Year Inventory 2.0 is a parent-report screening instrument designed to identify 12-month-old infants at risk for an eventual diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and consists of two domains: Social-Communication and Sensory-Regulatory. Although the First-Year Inventory 2.0’s screening psychometrics have been examined, its construct validity has not been investigated. In a sample of 112 high-risk 12-month-olds, we examined the First-Year Inventory 2.0’s associations with the Autism Observation Scale for Infants, an observer-based Autism Spectrum Disorder screener, and with other developmental instruments measuring similar areas in social communication and regulatory functioning in young children. Findings generally supported the First-Year Inventory 2.0 associations with other instruments in expected ways. The First-Year Inventory 2.0 Social-Communication domain was notably associated with the Autism Observation Scale for Infant’s total score and with language and communication domains of the Vineland and the Mullen. The Sensory-Regulatory domain showed minimal associations with other instruments that only had a few sensory items. Considering different objectives and strengths of assessments, researchers and clinicians are encouraged to utilize a variety of instruments in a comprehensive evaluation of a child. Lay abstract The First-Year Inventory 2.0 is a parent-report screening instrument designed to identify 12-month-old infants at risk for an eventual diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. This instrument focuses on Social-Communication and Sensory-Regulatory areas of infant behavior. Although the First-Year Inventory 2.0 screening performance has been previously studied, its validity has not been examined. Establishing validity of an instrument is important because it supports the effectiveness and the reliability of the instrument. In this study, we examined relationship between the First-Year Inventory 2.0 (Social-Communication and Sensory-Regulatory areas) and other instruments that measure similar areas of infant behavior in a sample of high-risk infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. These other instruments share some common aims and theoretical areas with the First-Year Inventory 2.0: the Autism Observation Scale for Infants, the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II, and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire. Findings generally supported the validity of the First-Year Inventory 2.0 with other instruments. In particular, the Social-Communication area of the First-Year Inventory 2.0 showed greater commonality with other instruments than in the Sensory-Regulatory area. The Sensory-Regulatory area seemed to be a unique feature of the First-Year Inventory 2.0 instrument. Considering different aims and strengths of assessments, researchers and clinicians are encouraged to utilize a variety of instruments in a comprehensive evaluation of a child.

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The Influence of Curricular-based Interventions within First-year "Success" Courses on Student Alcohol Expectancies and Engagement in High-risk Drinking Behaviors

NASPA Journal ◽

10.2202/0027-6014.1907 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Matt J Mayhew ◽

Rebecca J Caldwell ◽

Aimee Hourigan

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Expectancies ◽

First Year ◽

Alcohol Intervention ◽

Grade Point ◽

Student Affairs Practitioners ◽

Drinking Behaviors ◽

High Risk Drinking ◽

Success Courses ◽

First Year Success

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of curricular-based interventions housed within first-year success courses on alcohol expectancies and high-risk drinking behaviors. Specifically, we longitudinally assessed 173 students enrolled in one of ten first-year success courses, including five that received the alcohol intervention and five that did not. We then created a series of models accounting for demographic information (i.e., gender and self-reported expected grade point average), the pretest scores for the six outcome measures, and the intervention effect (i.e., whether students received the intervention or not). ANCOVA results showed that the intervention was effective in reducing high-risk drinking behaviors and alcohol expectancies for students enrolled in the success courses that received the intervention. Implications for student affairs practitioners and higher education scholars are discussed.

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Early Diagnostics and Early Intervention in Neurodevelopmental Disorders—Age-Dependent Challenges and Opportunities

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10040861 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 861

Author(s):

Mijna Hadders-Algra

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

High Risk ◽

Early Detection ◽

Developmental Disorders ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Brain Structures ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

First Year ◽

Early Diagnostics ◽

Challenges And Opportunities

This review discusses early diagnostics and early intervention in developmental disorders in the light of brain development. The best instruments for early detection of cerebral palsy (CP) with or without intellectual disability are neonatal magnetic resonance imaging, general movements assessment at 2–4 months and from 2–4 months onwards, the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination and Standardized Infant NeuroDevelopmental Assessment. Early detection of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is difficult; its first signs emerge at the end of the first year. Prediction with the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers and Infant Toddler Checklist is possible to some extent and improves during the second year, especially in children at familial risk of ASD. Thus, prediction improves substantially when transient brain structures have been replaced by permanent circuitries. At around 3 months the cortical subplate has dissolved in primary motor and sensory cortices; around 12 months the cortical subplate in prefrontal and parieto-temporal cortices and cerebellar external granular layer have disappeared. This review stresses that families are pivotal in early intervention. It summarizes evidence on the effectiveness of early intervention in medically fragile neonates, infants at low to moderate risk, infants with or at high risk of CP and with or at high risk of ASD.

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Physiological Biomarkers Assessed by Low-Tech Exercise Tests Predict Complications and Overall Survival in Patients Undergoing Pneumonectomy Due to Lung Cancer

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13040735 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 735

Author(s):

Tomasz Marjanski ◽

Damian Wnuk ◽

Robert Dziedzic ◽

Marcin Ostrowski ◽

Wioletta Sawicka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Cancer ◽

Overall Survival ◽

High Risk ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Cardiac Complications ◽

First Year ◽

Exercise Tests ◽

Walking Test ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Surgery Department

Due to its debilitating character pneumonectomy this is last-resort procedure. Preoperative results of the 6-min walking test (6MWT) help to identify high risk of postoperative complications and increased mortality in patients undergoing lobectomy for lung cancer. The aim of the study was to validate the value of 500 m in 6MWT as an indicator, which differentiates risk of complications in patients undergoing pneumonectomy. 125 patients who underwent pneumonectomy at Thoracic Surgery Department between 2009 and 2018. On the day preceding the surgery, patients underwent 6MWT. The patients were in median age of 63 years. The cut-off value of 500 m identified patients with increased 90-day mortality [17.9% vs. 3.5%, odds ratio (OR) 6.271, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.528–25.739], first-year mortality (30.7% vs. 11.6%, OR 3.378, 95% CI 1.310–8.709), and overall survival (p = 0.02). Patients who covered a distance ≤ 500 m had an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (35.9% vs. 16.3%, OR 2.880, 95% CI 1.207–6.870) and cardiac complications (38.4% vs. 19.8%, OR 2.537, 95% CI 1.100–5.849). Patients unable to reach 500 m in 6MWT are in a high risk of postoperative death after pneumonectomy, what may be a result of increased frequency of postoperative cardiac complications. Poor result of 6MWT is a predictor of worse overall survival.

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Erratum to article “Mid-childhood outcomes of infant siblings at familial high-risk of autism spectrum disorder” Autism Research, 10 (3), 546-557

Autism Research ◽

10.1002/aur.1851 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 2056-2057

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

High Risk ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Infant Siblings ◽

Autism Research ◽

Familial High Risk

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Survival of Patients with High-Risk Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated with Congenital Heart Disease

Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand ◽

10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.06.12404 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 104 (6) ◽

pp. 895-901

Keyword(s):

Congenital Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

High Risk ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

First Year ◽

Pulmonary Arterial ◽

Group 3 ◽

Group 2 ◽

Group 1

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common complication of congenital heart disease (CHD) with uncorrected left-to-right shunts. Currently, no consensus guideline exists on the management of PAH-CHD in children, especially those who do not meet operability criteria. Objective: To compare survival between three groups of high-risk PAH-CHD, group 1: total correction including both surgical and percutaneous intervention, group 2: palliative treatment, and group 3: conservative with medical treatment group. Materials and Methods: All pediatric patients with PAH-CHD that underwent cardiac catheterization between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were high risk PAH-CHD patients who had pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) greater than 6 Wood unit·m² and PVR-to-SVR ratio greater than 0.3 evaluated in room air. Exclusion criteria were younger than three months of age, severe left side heart disease with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure greater than 15 mmHg, obstructive total pulmonary venous return, and single ventricle physiology. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed from the date of PAH diagnosis to the date of all-cause mortality or to censored date at last follow-up. Results: Seventy-six patients with a median age at diagnosis of 27.5 months (IQR 14.5 to 69.0 months) were included in this study. The patients were divided into three subgroups and included 38 patients (50.0%) in group 1, six patients (7.9%) in group 2, and 32 patients (42.1%) in group 3. The median follow-up time was 554 days (IQR 103 to 2,133 days). The overall mortality was 21.7%. One-year survival in patients with simple lesion in group 1 and 3 were 79.5% and 87.5% and patients with complex lesions in group 1, 2, and 3 were 93.8%, 83.3%, and 73.1%, respectively. The results showed that most mortalities occurred in the first year. There were no statistically significant differences in survival among difference types of treatment (log rank test, p=0.522). Conclusion: The mortality of high-risk PAH-CHD patients were not different among those who underwent corrective surgery, palliative, or conservative treatment. The mortality was high in the first year after PAH diagnosis and remain stable afterward. Management decision for an individual with high-risk PAH-CHD patients requires comprehensive clinical assessment to balance the risks and benefits before making individualized clinical judgment. Keywords: Pulmonary hypertension; Congenital heart disease; High-risk patients

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Tools for assessing risk of reporting biases in studies and syntheses of studies: a systematic review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019703 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. e019703 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Matthew J Page ◽

Joanne E McKenzie ◽

Julian P T Higgins

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

High Risk ◽

Full Text ◽

Relative Weight ◽

Risk Of Bias ◽

Reporting Bias ◽

Measurement Properties ◽

Rater Agreement ◽

Funnel Plot ◽

Ovid Medline

BackgroundSeveral scales, checklists and domain-based tools for assessing risk of reporting biases exist, but it is unclear how much they vary in content and guidance. We conducted a systematic review of the content and measurement properties of such tools.MethodsWe searched for potentially relevant articles in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid PsycINFO and Google Scholar from inception to February 2017. One author screened all titles, abstracts and full text articles, and collected data on tool characteristics.ResultsWe identified 18 tools that include an assessment of the risk of reporting bias. Tools varied in regard to the type of reporting bias assessed (eg, bias due to selective publication, bias due to selective non-reporting), and the level of assessment (eg, for the study as a whole, a particular result within a study or a particular synthesis of studies). Various criteria are used across tools to designate a synthesis as being at ‘high’ risk of bias due to selective publication (eg, evidence of funnel plot asymmetry, use of non-comprehensive searches). However, the relative weight assigned to each criterion in the overall judgement is unclear for most of these tools. Tools for assessing risk of bias due to selective non-reporting guide users to assess a study, or an outcome within a study, as ‘high’ risk of bias if no results are reported for an outcome. However, assessing the corresponding risk of bias in a synthesis that is missing the non-reported outcomes is outside the scope of most of these tools. Inter-rater agreement estimates were available for five tools.ConclusionThere are several limitations of existing tools for assessing risk of reporting biases, in terms of their scope, guidance for reaching risk of bias judgements and measurement properties. Development and evaluation of a new, comprehensive tool could help overcome present limitations.

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