Table 1.
Selected baseline characteristics of children with ASD randomly assigned to GEXR or placebo
| Guanfacine (n = 30) | Placebo (n = 32) | P value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | ||
| Males | 26 | 86.7 | 27 | 84.4 | 0.99 |
| DSM-IV diagnosis | 0.31 | ||||
| Autistic disorder | 25 | 83.3 | 26 | 81.2 | |
| PDD-NOS | 3 | 10.0 | 6 | 18.7 | |
| Asperger’s disorder | 2 | 6.7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Intelligence score | |||||
| IQ < 70a | 11 | 36.7 | 10 | 33.0 | 0.79 |
| IQ ≥ 70 | 19 | 63.3 | 20 | 67.0 | |
| CGI-Severity | 0.63b | ||||
| Moderately ill | 12 | 40.0 | 12 | 37.5 | |
| Markedly ill | 17 | 56.7 | 17 | 53.1 | |
| Severely ill | 1 | 3.3 | 3 | 9.4 | |
| Tanner stage | 0.99 | ||||
| Tanner 1 or 2 | 29 | 96.7 | 31 | 96.7 | |
| Tanner 3 | 1 | 3.3 | 1 | 3.1 | |
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social communication questionnaire | 23.9 | 6.4 | 21.4 | 6.4 | 0.15 |
| VABS II | |||||
| Socialization | 66.8 | 14.3 | 67.1 | 14.9 | 0.93 |
| Communication | 72.9 | 20.1 | 73.5 | 13.7 | 0.40 |
| Daily living | 72.7 | 19.9 | 74.1 | 15.9 | 0.77 |
| HSQ-ASD (per-item mean) | 3.4 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.74 |
| CYBOCS-ASD | 11.2 | 5.1 | 10.9 | 5.4 | 0.79 |
| CASI-Anxiety | 14.0 | 10.2 | 15.8 | 11.1 | 0.62 |
| CSHQ | 44.0 | 4.9 | 44.4 | 44.0 | 0.67 |
aIQ missing in 2 subjects in placebo group
bThe p value represents the proportion of subjects > moderate on Clinical Global Impression-Severity by group
VABS II Vineland adaptive behavior scales, 2nd edition
HSQ home situation questionnaire
CYBOCS–ASD children’s Yale–Brown obsessive compulsive scale, modified for ASD
CASI–Anxiety child and adolescent symptom inventory-anxiety subscale
CSHQ children’s sleep habits questionnaire