Validation of the Hindi Versions of Three Autism Specific Screening Tools (M-CHAT-R/F, RBSK-ASQ and TABC) Widely Used in India in 16–30-Month-Old Children

To determine the diagnostic accuracy of MCHAT-R/F, RBSK-ASQ and TABC for screening children aged 16 to 30 months for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Children aged 16 to 30 months were recruited from the pediatrics department. Those with known neurodevelopmental disorders, disabilities, severe medical illnesses, unavailable mothers, or lack of maternal understanding of Hindi, were excluded. The three index tools were translated into Hindi; each tool was piloted on 25 mothers and modified accordingly. The researcher was trained in administration, scoring and interpretation of the three tools. After enrollment the index tools and Developmental Profile (DP-3) were administered to each participant. The reference tool was a comprehensive assessment by experts that included clinical evaluation, computation of DP-3 scores, and application of diagnostic criteria of ASD; the final diagnosis being ASD or Non-ASD.

Sensitivity and specificity of M-CHAT-R/F were 95.2% and 94.4%, of RBSK-ASQ were 100% and 93.9%, and of TABC were 100% and 94.4%, respectively. Convergent validity was high (Spearman’s correlation coefficient 0.98). Test-retest and inter-rater reliability of each tool was excellent (Intra-class correlation coefficient 1.00).

All three tools had acceptable psychometric properties, high convergent validity and excellent test-retest and inter-rater reliability.