Professor Yu Hee-jung's Team at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital Develops Early Screening Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Infants and Toddlers

Professor Yu Hee-jung, Department of Psychiatry, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A research team led by Professor Yoo Hee-jung from the Department of Psychiatry at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital announced on the 7th that they have developed and validated the effectiveness of 'BeDevel (BeDevel: Toddler Behavioral Developmental Screening Scale),' an early screening tool for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tailored for Korean infants and toddlers.

Autism spectrum disorder is a condition caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors during the prenatal period. It is called a spectrum disorder because the problematic behaviors vary widely and are complex. Infants and toddlers with related disorders not only show fixation on specific objects or behavioral patterns but also have difficulties with eye contact and delayed language development, leading to challenges in social interaction and communication. If treatment is delayed, secondary comorbidities and behavioral problems may arise.

With an examination by a specialist, diagnosis can be made as early as 12 to 24 months, and appropriate treatment can improve prognosis. However, due to a lack of awareness about the disorder and the long time required to see a specialist, as well as the fact that even experts often have limited knowledge about high-risk behaviors for autism spectrum disorder, early detection and diagnosis are challenging. This often results in missing the optimal treatment window.

The 'BeDevel' developed by Professor Yoo's team consists of two parts: ‘BeDevel-Interview (BeDevel-I),’ a caregiver interview report format based on long-term daily observation of the child, which includes 18 items such as response to name, smiling, sharing interest, and eye contact; and ‘BeDevel-Play (BeDevel-P),’ a direct observation method of the child's behavior with 19 items including simple word comprehension, basic play, social play, and social relationships. Additionally, it was created as an integrated screening test package including detailed test guidelines and educational materials for examiners to reference.

Clinical trials conducted on 621 Korean infants and toddlers under 42 months of age showed that the diagnostic accuracy for autism spectrum disorder averaged between 82% and 89%, indicating a relatively high level of predictability. Professor Yoo stated, “Existing screening methods had low accuracy, and in-depth diagnostic methods tended to have limited accessibility. We hope that BeDevel will be widely used to enable early screening of autism spectrum disorder and facilitate appropriate in-depth diagnosis and treatment, and that it will be properly integrated and utilized within existing systems such as infant and toddler health screening institutions.”

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