Patterns of Autism Symptoms: Hidden Structure in the ADOS and ADI-R instruments

ABSTRACT We simultaneously revisited the ADI-R and ADOS with a comprehensive data-analytics strategy. Here, the combination of pattern analysis algorithms and an extensive data resources (n=266 patients aged 7 to 49 years) allowed identifying coherent clinical constellations in and across ADI-R and ADOS assessments widespread in clinical practice. The collective results of the clustering and sparse regression approaches suggest that identifying autism subtypes and severity for a given individual may be most manifested in the social and communication domains of the ADI-R. Additionally, our quantitative investigation revealed that disease-specific patterns of ADI-R and ADOS scores can be uncovered when studying sex, age or level of FIQ in patients.