Autismus-Spektrum-Störungen im Erwachsenenalter: klinische und neuropsychologische Befunde spätdiagnostizierter Asperger-Syndrome

Abstract

Introduction High-functioning autism (HFA) and Aspergers syndrome (AS) are autism spectrum disorders (ASD) characterised by disturbances in social interaction, both verbal and non-verbal communication and repetitive and/or restrictive behaviour since early childhood. Symptoms appear generally during early childhood and adolescence. The increasing need to clarify diagnostic queries in advanced age led to the constitution of specialised outpatient clinics for adults involving a growing amount of HFA/AS subjects diagnosed late in life. However, thus far neuropsychological data about this group are scarce. Methods We present a subgroup of 39 patients with HFA/AS (mean age at diagnosis 31.1 ± 8.9 years) who were consecutively diagnosed at the autism outpatient clinic at the Department of Psychiatry at the University Hospital Cologne. Autistic symptoms (autism spectrum quotient; AQ), depressive symptoms (Beck depression inventory; BDI), general intelligence (HAWIE-R), social cognition ("theory of mind", ToM) and executive functioning (COWAT) were systematically studied in comparison to a control group matched for age, education, gender and intelligence (n = 39). Results HFA/AS subjects presented higher AQ scores (40.4 ± 5.2) as opposed to the healthy controls (13.5 ± 4.8). Neuropsychologically, patients showed deficits in social cognition, executive functions and in subtests of HAWIE-R related to verbal comprehension and perceptual organisation as opposed to the healthy control gro…