The term "autism" was originally coined by Eugen Bleuler to describe one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia. Even if autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are now considered two distinct conditions, they share some clinical features. The present study aimed to investigate self-reported autistic traits in individuals with ASD, SSD, and non-clinical controls (NCC), using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), a 50-item questionnaire. The study was conducted in the Psychiatry Unit of Policlinico "G. Rodolico", Catania, Italy. The AQ was administered to 35 adults with ASD, 64 with SSD, and 198 NCC. Overall, our data showed that the ASD sample scored significantly higher than NCC. However, no significant differences were detected between individuals with ASD and SSD. Notably, the three groups scored similarly in the subscale "attention to detail". AQ showed good accuracy in differentiating ASD from NCC (AUC = 0.84), while discriminant ability was poor in the clinical sample (AUC = 0.63). Finally, AQ did not correlate with clinician-rated ADOS-2 scores in the ASD sample. Our study confirms that symptoms are partially overlapping in adults with ASD and psychosis. Moreover, they raise concerns regarding the usefulness of AQ as a screening tool in clinical populations.

中文翻译：

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使用 AQ 自我报告的自闭症特征：患有自闭症谱系障碍、精神病和非临床对照的个体之间的比较。


“自闭症”一词最初由尤金·布洛伊勒（Eugen Bleuler）创造，用于描述精神分裂症的核心症状之一。即使自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和精神分裂症谱系障碍（SSD）现在被认为是两种不同的疾病，但它们具有一些共同的临床特征。本研究旨在使用包含 50 项的自闭症谱系商数 (AQ) 调查问卷，调查自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD)、SSD 和非临床对照 (NCC) 患者自我报告的自闭症特征。该研究是在意大利卡塔尼亚 Policlinico“G. Rodolico”精神病学科进行的。 AQ 对 35 名患有 ASD 的成年人、64 名患有 SSD 的成年人和 198 名 NCC 进行了测试。总体而言，我们的数据显示 ASD 样本的得分显着高于 NCC。然而，自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 和 SSD 患者之间没有发现显着差异。值得注意的是，三组在“注重细节”分量表中得分相似。 AQ 在区分 ASD 和 NCC 方面表现出良好的准确性（AUC = 0.84），但在临床样本中的区分能力较差（AUC = 0.63）。最后，AQ 与 ASD 样本中临床医生评定的 ADOS-2 评分不相关。我们的研究证实，患有自闭症谱系障碍和精神病的成年人的症状部分重叠。此外，他们对 AQ 作为临床人群筛查工具的有用性表示担忧。