Abstract
The Autism Diagnostic Interview—Revised is one of the “gold standard” diagnostic tools for autism spectrum disorders. It is traditionally administered face-to-face. Cost and geographical concerns constrain the employment of the ADI-R for large-scale research projects. The telephone interview is a reasonable alternative, but has not yet been examined for reliability with face-to-face administration. In this study, participants were interviewed both face-to-face and on the telephone using the complete ADI-R interview. Results indicate that there was no significant difference between the algorithm scores or the diagnoses arrived at for face-to-face and telephone administrations. Reliability statistics across the two modalities were very good and indicate that telephone interviews using the ADI-R are a viable option for researchers.
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Acknowledgments
We extend our sincere appreciation to our research subjects and their extended family members for their enthusiastic support of this study. This work was supported by an OMHF grant (JJAH, principal investigator) and a CIHR Interdisciplinary Health Research Team grant (RT-43820) to the Autism Spectrum Disorders Canadian-American Research Consortium (ASD-CARC: www.autismresearch.ca) (JJAH, principal investigator). JW-K is a postdoctoral trainee with the CIHR/Autism Speaks Autism SPectrum Interdisciplinary REsearch (ASPIRE) Strategic Training in Health Research Program (PI: JJAH) (www.AutismTraining.ca).
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Ward-King, J., Cohen, I.L., Penning, H. et al. Brief Report: Telephone Administration of the Autism Diagnostic Interview—Revised: Reliability and Suitability for Use in Research. J Autism Dev Disord 40, 1285–1290 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-0987-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-0987-x