Abstract
The authors discuss two "gold standard" methods for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders: ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised) and ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule), and review comparative studies that evaluate the methods. Some of the studies found the instruments to be diagnostically equivalent, other studies slightly favored ADOS.
Sensitivity of both methods was high even when used alone. However, the combined use of ADI-R and ADOS led to higher diagnostic specificity.
The authors also present two cases describing the parallel clinical use of ADI-R and ADOS as part of the diagnosis of two boys aged 8.8 and 4.2 years, respectively. Both cases effectively demonstrate the following theoretical assumption: whereas the reliability of both methods is comparable under optimal conditions, the use of ADI-R is significantly limited in cases when the cooperation of the parent(s) or caregiver is unreliable, limited, or impossible.
In such cases, examination using ADOS is preferred.