Aggarwal Shilpa, Angus Beth
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Orygen Youth Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Clinical Psychologist, Orygen Youth Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Australas Psychiatry. 2015 Apr;23(2):120-3. doi: 10.1177/1039856214568214. Epub 2015 Feb 4.
The diagnosis of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is sometimes delayed until adolescence. This study tries to identify the symptoms in clients that initiated a referral to an autism team of an early intervention service providing psychiatric care for young people between the ages of 15 and 25 and who subsequently receive a new diagnosis of autism.
Thirty-one ASD assessments were carried out during a period of 3 years in an early intervention service in Australia. An attempt to identify the common presenting symptoms and trends in the referrals for ASD assessment within the service was made.
Most common presentation of adolescents getting referred for ASD assessment was with depressive symptoms followed by mixed anxiety and depression and primary psychotic symptoms. There was a significant gender difference, with a higher number of males getting referred for ASD assessment.
ASDs can go undetected during childhood and these clients can sometimes present during adolescence to mental health services for a psychiatric comorbidity. Regular training opportunities for clinicians dealing with them could improve the chances of ASDs being picked up during their episode of care at an early intervention service, thus optimizing their management.
患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的儿童有时直到青春期才被诊断出来。本研究试图确定那些促使他们被转介到一个为15至25岁青少年提供精神科护理的早期干预服务自闭症团队的症状，这些青少年随后被重新诊断为自闭症。
在澳大利亚的一项早期干预服务中，3年期间进行了31次ASD评估。试图确定该服务中ASD评估转介的常见症状表现和趋势。
被转介进行ASD评估的青少年最常见的症状表现是抑郁症状，其次是混合性焦虑和抑郁以及原发性精神病性症状。存在显著的性别差异，被转介进行ASD评估的男性数量更多。
ASD在儿童期可能未被发现，这些患者有时在青春期会因精神疾病共病而寻求心理健康服务。为处理这些患者的临床医生提供定期培训机会，可以提高在早期干预服务中他们接受护理期间发现ASD的几率，从而优化对他们的管理。
