BACKGROUND:

The Autism Spectrum Disorder Observation for Children (ASD-OC) is a new observation scale used to assess autistic symptomatology. As the publication of the fifth edition Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is approaching, exploring the effect of the changing DSM criteria has begun to occur.

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to compare severity of autistic impairment in children diagnosed with either the DSM-IV-TR or the DSM-5.

METHODS:

ASD-OC total scores were compared between 63 children (3-15 years) in one of three groups: DSM-IV-TR group, DSM-5 group or control group.

RESULTS:

The DSM-5 and DSM-IV-TR groups evinced significantly higher ASD-OC scores as compared to the control group; however, there were no significant differences between the DSM-5 and DSM-IV-TR groups in symptom severity.

CONCLUSION:

Many children who are currently diagnosed with ASD may no longer be diagnosed, despite having significant impairments roughly equal to those who meet DSM-5 criteria.