The naturalistic follow-up of pervasive developmental disorders–not otherwise specified cases

Figures & data

Figure 1. Selection of subjects.

Table 1. Characteristics of participants initially diagnosed as PDD–NOS.

	Mean	Minimum	Maximum	Standard deviation
Age	8.6	4.5	16.0	2.3
Age at diagnosis	3.6	1.5	6.0	1.2
Follow-up duration	5.1	3.0	14.0	2.3

Table 2. Demographic, clinical, and comorbid psychiatric diagnostic characteristics of participants at follow-up.

	PDD–NOS n = 22	AD n = 23	No diagnosis n = 6	p
Age, years (mean ± SD)	8.3 ± 2.6	9.0 ± 2.2	8.7 ± 0.7	.54
Age at diagnosis, years (mean ± SD)	3.3 ± 1.2	3.7 ± 1.3	3.6 ± 0.7	.54
Follow-up duration, years (mean ± SD)	4.9 ± 2.6	5.3 ± 2.1	5.2 ± 1.3	.81
Use of first words, years (mean ± SD)	2.2 ± 0.8	2.8 ± 1.4	2.0 ± 1.2	.24
Total IQ	79.15 ± 10.2	61.87 ± 16.6	88.67 ± 26.1	2 < 3; p = .01 1 = 3; p = .26 2 < 1; p = .03
Formal education attendance (n)
Yes	21	13	6
No	1	10	0
Special education, years (mean ± SD)	4.1 ± 1.8	5.8 ± 2.1	3.7 ± 2.4	1 = 3; p = .72 2 > 1; p = .02 2=3; p = .05
CARS score (mean ± SD)	23.61 ± 4.1	31.00 ± 6.4	17.33 ± 2.2	2 > 1 > 3 (p < .001)
ABC score (mean ± SD)	21.36 ± 13.20	49.41 ± 21.32	2.50 ± 2.07	2 > 1 > 3 (p < .001)
Comorbid diagnosis (n)
ADHD	7	8	2
ID	1	15	1
Anxiety disorder	2	2	0
Depressive disorder	0	1	0

Note: PDD–NOS: pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified; AD: autistic disorder; ADHD: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ID: intellectual disability; 1 = PDD–NOS; 2 = AD; 3 = no diagnosis.

Table 3. Characteristics of the cases who lost the diagnosis of PDDs.

Cases	Case 1	Case 2	Case 3	Case 4	Case 5	Case 6
Age (years)	9.5	8.0	8	8.5	9.5	9
Gender	Male	Male	Female	Male	Male	Male
Age at diagnosis (years)	3	4	4	4.5	3	3
Use of first words (years)	3	4	1	1	1.5	1.5
Total IQ	51	105	101	70	123	82
CARS score	21	16.5	16.5	15.5	15.5	19
ABC score	1	5	4	0	1	4