Table 3.
Symptoms and signs from DSM-5 diagnostic criteria.
| Female ASD | Male ASD | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | ||
| (A1) Deficit in social-emotional reciprocity | |||||
| Abnormal social approach | 34 | 62.96 | 39 | 70.9 | 0.34363 |
| Failure of normal back-and-forth conversation | 44 | 81.4 | 48 | 87.2 | 0.2999 |
| Reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect | 41 | 75.9 | 41 | 74.5 | 0.7999 |
| Failure to initiate or respond to social interaction | 36 | 66.6 | 36 | 65.4 | 0.7372 |
| (A2) Deficit in non-verbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction | |||||
| Poorly integrated verbal and non-verbal communication | 39 | 72.2 | 30 | 54.5 | 0.9765 |
| Abnormalities in eye contact and body language | 42 | 77.77 | 45 | 81.8 | 0.2923 |
| Deficits in understanding and use of gestures | 28 | 51.8 | 34 | 61.8 | 0.2409 |
| A total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication | 7 | 12.96 | 14 | 25.45 | 0.1203 |
| (A3) Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships | |||||
| Difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts | 33 | 61.1 | 47 | 85.4 | 0.0084 |
| Difficulties in sharing imaginative play | 29 | 53.7 | 42 | 76.3 | 0.0476 |
| Difficulties in making friends | 52 | 96.29 | 53 | 96.36 | 0.6463 |
| Absence of interest in peers | 6 | 11.11 | 7 | 12.7 | 0.5893 |
| (B1) Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech | |||||
| Simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys, or flipping objects | 33 | 61.1 | 33 | 60 | 0.5456 |
| Echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases | 18 | 33.33 | 16 | 29.09 | 0.8505 |
| (B2) Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns or verbal non-verbal behavior | |||||
| Extreme distress at small changes and/or difficulties with transitions | 36 | 66.66 | 44 | 80 | 0.1065 |
| Rigid thinking patterns. greeting rituals | 30 | 55.55 | 41 | 74.54 | 0.0303 |
| Need to take the same route or eat food every day | 29 | 53.7 | 25 | 45.45 | 0.8808 |
| (B3) Highly restricted. fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus | |||||
| Strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects | 15 | 27.77 | 16 | 29.09 | 0.5899 |
| Excessively circumscribed or perseverative interest | 48 | 88.8 | 52 | 94.54 | 0.1897 |
| (B4) Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment | |||||
| Apparent indifference to pain/temperature | 2 | 3.7 | 1 | 1.81 | 0.8988 |
| Adverse response to specific sounds or textures | 36 | 66.66 | 41 | 74.54 | 0.4451 |
| Excessive smelling or touching of objects | 23 | 42.59 | 11 | 20 | 0.9945 |
| Visual fascination with lights or movement | 3 | 5.55 | 12 | 21.81 | 0.0209 |
ASD, autism spectrum disorder.