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Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder Followed for 2 Years: Those Who Gained and Those Who Lost the Most in Terms of Adaptive Functioning Outcome

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Abstract

Clinical predictors of 2-year outcome in preschoolers with ASD were studied in a population-based group of very young children with ASD (n = 208). Children who gained the most (n = 30) and lost the most (n = 23), i.e., increased or decreased their adaptive functioning outcome according to the Vineland Composite Score between study entry (T1) and follow-up (T2), 2 years later were compared. Individual factors that differed significantly between the two outcome groups were cognitive level, age at referral, not passing expected milestones at 18 months, autistic type behavior problems and regression. However, logistic regression analysis showed that only cognitive level at T1 (dichotomized into IQ < 70 and IQ ≥ 70) made a unique statistically significant contribution to outcome prediction (p = <.001) with an odds ratio of 18.01. The findings have significant clinical implications in terms of information at diagnosis regarding clinical prognosis in ASD.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was given from Wilhelm and Martina Lundgren Foundation, Sven Jerring Foundation and the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre (ÅH), from LifeWatch, Niclas Öberg Foundation (EF), the Per and Ann-Mari Ahlqvist Foundation, and from Alexandra and Ragnar Söderberg (CG).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 411 19, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Åsa Hedvall, Elisabeth Fernell, Fritjof Norrelgen, Liselotte Kjellmer, Martina Barnevik Olsson, Lotta Höglund Carlsson, Mats A. Eriksson, Eva Billstedt & Christopher Gillberg

  2. Department of Psychology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Åsa Hedvall

  3. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Joakim Westerlund

  4. Research and Development Centre, Skaraborgs´s Hospital, Skövde, Sweden

    Elisabeth Fernell

  5. Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Fritjof Norrelgen & Liselotte Kjellmer

  6. CLINTEC, Division of Speech and Language Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Liselotte Kjellmer

  7. PRIMA Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden

    Martina Barnevik Olsson

  8. Department of Pediatrics, Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Liljeholmen, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lotta Höglund Carlsson

  9. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Mats A. Eriksson

Authors
  1. Åsa Hedvall
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  2. Joakim Westerlund
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  3. Elisabeth Fernell
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  4. Fritjof Norrelgen
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  5. Liselotte Kjellmer
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  6. Martina Barnevik Olsson
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  7. Lotta Höglund Carlsson
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  8. Mats A. Eriksson
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  9. Eva Billstedt
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  10. Christopher Gillberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eva Billstedt.

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Hedvall, Å., Westerlund, J., Fernell, E. et al. Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder Followed for 2 Years: Those Who Gained and Those Who Lost the Most in Terms of Adaptive Functioning Outcome. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 3624–3633 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2509-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2509-3

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