TABLE 3.
Latent Severity Classes: Descriptives and Predictors
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persistent High | Persistent Moderate | Worsening | Improving | |||||||
| First | Last | First | Last | First | Last | First | Last | |||
| Age, y | M (SD) | 3.4 (1.6) | 7.5 (2.7) | 3.3 (1.3) | 7.0 (2.7) | 2.8 (0.6) | 7.3 (3.0) | 3.4 (1.7) | 7.5 (2.7) | |
| ADI-R (C) Social | M (SD) | 13.5 (4.6) | 12.3 (5.0) | 11.3 (4.9) | 10.2 (5.2) | 8.3 (4.0) | 5.6 (3.6) | 9.4 (5.3) | 6.7 (5.4) | |
| ADI-R (C) Comm Verbal | M (SD) | 9.9 (4.1) | 9.8 (4.4) | 8.5 (4.1) | 8.3 (4.1) | 5.4 (2.5) | 5.8 (3.2) | 5.3 (4.4) | 5.3 (4.5) | |
| ADI-R (C) Comm Nonverbal | M (SD) | 6.1 (2.2) | 5.3 (2.5) | 5.5 (2.5) | 4.2 (2.7) | 3.6 (2.6) | 1.6 (1.7) | 4.3 (2.7) | 2.8 (2.8) | |
| ADI-R (C) RRB | M (SD) | 4.7 (2.3) | 4.6 (2.2) | 3.8 (2.4) | 3.7 (2.5) | 2.9 (2.4) | 3.4 (2.6) | 3.3 (1.9) | 3.1 (2.3) | |
| ADOS SA | M (SD) | 16.9 (3.2) | 15.4 (3.3) | 13.8 (4.2) | 11.6 (4.2) | 7.4 (3.7) | 8.3 (4.6) | 12.2 (4.2) | 3.0 (1.8) | |
| ADOS RRB | M (SD) | 4.8 (1.8) | 5.2 (2.1) | 3.3 (1.8) | 4.0 (2.1) | 2.1 (1.5) | 2.6 (2.0) | 3.3 (1.9) | 1.2 (1) | |
| ADOS CSS | M (SD) | 8.8 (1.7) | 8.6 (1.3) | 6.6 (1.3) | 6.9 (1.4) | 3.5 (1.7) | 5.7 (2.5) | 7.2 (1.9) | 2.3 (1.1) | |
| VDLS | M (SD) | 56.5 (14.8) | 43.2 (22.4) | 60.4 (12.8) | 49.7 (24.6) | 65.6 (14.6) | 59.5 (22.6) | 72.2 (10.7) | 77.7 (15.0) | |
| VIQ | M (SD) | 41.0 (25.9) | 45.6 (29.2) | 48.8 (27.3) | 61.0 (35.4) | 55.8 (20.9) | 70.7 (28.8) | 74.2 (24.0) | 100.8 (19.0) | |
| RRR (P) | — | 1.63 (0.01*)a | 3.09 (0.001*)a | 4.83 (0.001*)a | ||||||
| NVIQ | M (SD) | 67.6 (23.9) | 64.9 (29.4) | 74.6 (23.7) | 73.4 (31.1) | 75.1 (23.6) | 81.2 (32.0) | 88.1 (15.7) | 100.3 (18.4) | |
| RRR (P) | — | 0.99 (0.94)a | 0.70 (0.27)a | 0.91 (0.80)a | ||||||
| Gender | Female | 17.3% | 23.8% | 10.0% | 8.7% | |||||
| RRR (P) | — | 1.52 (0.17)a | 0.51 (0.31)a | 0.45 (0.33)a | ||||||
| Race | Minority | 20.5% | 23.8% | 26.7% | 8.7% | |||||
| RRR (P) | — | 1.53 (0.16)a | 2.14 (0.12)a | 0.83 (0.82)a | ||||||
| Final diagnosis (% observed in each class) | Autism (n = 230) | 137 (88%) | 83 (64%) | 9 (30%) | 1 (4%) | |||||
| PDD-NOS (n = 102) | 19 (12%) | 47 (36%) | 18 (60%) | 18 (78%) | ||||||
| Non-ASD (n = 7) | — | — | 3 (10%) | 4 (18%) | ||||||
| n by class | 156 | 130 | 30 | 23 | ||||||
M, mean; First, data at initial assessment; Last, data at final assessment; ADI-R (C), current ADI-R algorithm scores on items comparable across ages 2 through 15, summed within ADI-R domains; ADOS SA, ADOS Social Affect domain raw total; ADOS RRB, ADOS Restricted Repetitive Behavior domain raw total; ADOS CSS, ADOS calibrated severity score; VDLS, Vineland Daily Living Skills standard score; RRR, relative risk ratio; P = P value with 16 degrees of freedom; *P < .01. —, indicate groups for which no relevant data exists.
a
Results of multinomial logistic regression, with reference group = class 1, persistent high.