V. Nordin et al., THE SWEDISH VERSION OF THE CHILDHOOD AUTISM RATING-SCALE IN A CLINICAL SETTING, Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 28(1), 1998, pp. 69-75
The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) is an instrument for screenin
g and diagnosis of autism. The present study was performed to assess t
he interrater reliability of a Swedish version of the CARS when used i
n a clinical setting. The procedure used mimicked a frequent form of c
onsultation in neuropsychiatry and pediatric neurology. During a restr
icted time period, both an interview with the parents and observation
of the child take place. Often this assessment is an important screeni
ng procedure and directs further investigation. CARS was used for rati
ng autistic behavior by two investigators in 25 children. A variant of
the weighted kappa statistic (correcting for chance and for degrees o
f disagreement) showed values between .53 and .75 (indicating fair to
excellent agreement). Aspects of validity and reliability are discusse
d.