ICAR Research Data Repository for Knowledge Management

We conducted this study to (i)evaluate the reliability of the Swahili version of the 3Di-sv in the detection of autism in children from rural Kenyan settings; (ii) determine the factorial structure of Swahili 3Di-sv, (iii) investigate the measurement invariance of the Swahili 3Di-sv in these settings; and (iv) compute the criterion validity of the Swahili 3Di-sv while comparing its scores against the diagnosis from either DSM-IV-TR or DSM-5. This study was carried out in a defined area, the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS), in Kilifi County on the Kenyan coast. This study was nested in a large epidemiological study (NDD Study) that screened 11,223 children randomly selected from 28,000 children aged 6 to 9 years within the KHDSS. 11,223 children were successfully screened with the INCLEN neurodevelopmental disorders screening tool (NDST) in stage I. There are eight autism-specific questions in the NDST. Approximately 2,162 children from stage I were invited for further clinical and neuropsychological assessments, including administration of the ADOS (targeted to a proportion of children screening positive in autism-specific questions) and 3Di (targeted to every child in stage 2).