In a new study, researchers found that many pediatricians using the standard autism screening tool missed signs of ASD during children’s routine well-child visits.
In a new study, researchers found that many pediatricians using the standard autism screening tool missed signs of ASD during children’s routine well-child visits.
The study researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that only about 39 percent of children, who went on to get a diagnosis of ASD, had screened positive at their well-child visit.
Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ goal is universal ASD screening for children ages 18 and 24 months.
But the study findings mean the screening tool missed many children with a higher chance for ASD, delaying their chance to get early treatment.
In the new study, researchers from CHOP looked at the electronic health records of almost 26,000 children who had a well-child visit at a pediatric clinic in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Their results were published Sept. 27 in the journal Pediatrics.
Healthcare providers screened children using a tool called the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers with Follow-Up (M-CHAT/F). The tool was integrated into the health system’s electronic health record system, which the authors say helped achieve almost universal screening.
Almost 91 percent of the children in the study were screened, with just more than half being screened more than once.
“The importance of early intervention for toddlers with ASD is undeniable. Universal screening helps us make decisions about which children are at risk,” said Wendy Stone, PhD, director of the University of Washington’s Research in Early Autism Detection and Intervention Lab, who wasn’t involved in the study.
Physicians use the screening tool to identify children with a high chance for ASD, a developmental disorder that begins early in childhood.
These children are then referred to a specialist for diagnosis. Physicians may also refer children based on their own observations of the child.
Although the screening tool identified only 38.8 percent of children with ASD, these children were diagnosed 7 months earlier than those who screened negative.
“If close to 40 percent of children can be detected younger, and those children can get diagnosed and into an appropriate intervention earlier, that’s a win,” Robins said.
But what about children who screened negative at 18 or 24 months, but were later diagnosed with ASD?
Stone says screening for ASD is different than screening for a medical condition like heart disease or diabetes, which have distinct biological markers that physicians can measure.
Jill Seladi-Schulman is a freelance writer from Atlanta, GA. She received her PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Emory where her dissertation was centered on influenza morphology. She has a passion for science and health communication and enjoys writing on all sorts of health-related topics – although she will always have a soft spot for infectious disease. Jill is also an avid reader, loves to travel, and enjoys writing fiction.
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