Turkish Validation of the Rapid Interactive Screening Test for Autism in Toddlers

  • Autism. 2024 May;28(5):1297-1304. doi: 10.1177/13623613231217801.
Muhammed Tayyib Kadak  1 ,  Nihal Serdengeçti  2 ,  Meryem Seçen Yazıcı  3 ,  Tuncay Sandıkçı  4 ,  Aybike Aydın  1 ,  Zehra Koyuncu  1 ,  Yavuz Meral  5 ,  Abas Haşimoğlu  6 ,  Yasin Çalışkan  5 ,  Gizem Bayraktar  7 ,  Elif Can Öztürk  8 ,  Mehmet Enes Gökler  9 ,  Roula Choueiri  10 ,  Mahmut Cem Tarakçıoğlu  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Turkey.
  • 2. Yuksekova Public Hospital, Turkey.
  • 3. Zonguldak Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Turkey.
  • 4. Erenkoy Mental and Nervous Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
  • 5. Istanbul Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital, Turkey.
  • 6. Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Turkey.
  • 7. Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
  • 8. Balıkesir Atatürk City Hospital, Turkey.
  • 9. Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turkey.
  • 10. Boston Children's Hospital, USA.
PMID: 38155361 DOI: 10.1177/13623613231217801
Abstract

It is important to diagnose autism spectrum disorder at an early age and to start an early intervention program without delay. In this study, we aimed to validate the Rapid Interactive Screening Test for Autism in Toddlers (RITA-T) in a group of Turkish children and found that the RITA-T which has been shown to be a valid and reliable screening test for 18- to 36-month-old children in studies conducted in different countries, is also valid in Turkish children. Similar to previous studies, our results showed that the RITA-T has good sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing children with autism spectrum disorder. We think that our study will contribute to the timely initiation of early intervention programs for many children with autism by enabling a valid test to be used in screening programs.

Keywords
RITA-T; autism spectrum disorder; early identification; screening test; toddler.