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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

The Autism–Tics, ADHD and other Comorbidities inventory (A-TAC): previous and predictive validity

Authors: Caroline Mårland, Paul Lichtenstein, Alessio Degl’Innocenti, Tomas Larson, Maria Råstam, Henrik Anckarsäter, Christopher Gillberg, Thomas Nilsson, Sebastian Lundström

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Reliable and easy to administer screening instruments focusing on neurodevelopmental disorders and associated conditions are scarce. The Autism–Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities inventory (A-TAC) has previously been validated and reporting good– excellent validity for several disorders. This article aims to expand these findings by including more conditions in a substantially larger sample augmented with the Swedish National Patient Register (NPR).

Methods

Since 2004 parents of all 9-year-old Swedish twins have been invited to participate in a telephone interview in the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, CATSS. The CATSS is linked to the NPR which includes data from in- and outpatient care. Data on neurodevelopmental disorders (A-TAC) collected in CATSS were compared with diagnoses from the NPR. We investigated diagnoses that had been made both before (previous validity) and after (predictive validity) the interview.

Results

Sensitivity and specificity of A-TAC scores for predicting earlier or later clinical diagnoses were mostly good–excellent, with values of the area under the curve for a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) of .98, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) .93, learning disorder (LD) .92, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) .99, with small differences in terms of previous and predictive analyses. A-TAC provided little validity for eating disorders.

Conclusion

The result support previous claims: A-TAC is a broad screening instrument with a particular strength in assessing ASD, ADHD, LD, and ODD at ages 9 and 12, and also provides phenotypic information about other child psychiatric disorders.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
The Autism–Tics, ADHD and other Comorbidities inventory (A-TAC): previous and predictive validity
Authors
Caroline Mårland
Paul Lichtenstein
Alessio Degl’Innocenti
Tomas Larson
Maria Råstam
Henrik Anckarsäter
Christopher Gillberg
Thomas Nilsson
Sebastian Lundström
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1563-0

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