New screening tool could help diagnose autism in toddlers
- Early diagnosis helps children and families get needed services
- The app was effective across factors like gender, race and ethnicity
- The digital screening tool could replace parent questionnaires
FILE – An autistic boy holds the hand of his adoptive father as they prepare to leave for a family outing from their home in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Traditionally, autism was diagnosed only in kids with severe language and social impairments and unusual repetitious behaviors. But the definition gradually expanded, and autism is now shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions, too. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
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(NewsNation) — A new digital screening tool could help improve early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder among children, including those in populations where ASD is typically underdiagnosed.
A study funded by the National Institutes of Health indicated positive results from a tablet-based screening application, which showed an 87.8% sensitivity, indicating it correctly diagnosed most children.
Currently, health care providers typically screen toddlers for ASD using a questionnaire given to parents, but the accuracy of those questionnaires is lower in primary care settings. The questionnaire has also been shown to be less accurate when diagnosing girls and children of color, both populations where ASD has historically been underdiagnosed.
Researchers developed the SenseToKnow app to record and analyze children’s responses to short movies designed to elicit a range of behavioral patterns. The app tracks early signs of ASD, analyzing factors including social attention, facial expression, head movements, responses to the child’s name, blink rates and motor skills.
The app was tested on toddlers ages 17 months to three years during well-child visits. Of the 475 toddlers studied, 49 were subsequently diagnosed with ASD. The app was reliable across demographic factors including sex, race and ethnicity.
Those screened as positive by the app had a 40.6% chance of subsequently receiving an ASD diagnosis, compared to 15% of children screened using patient questionnaires. Using both screening measures increased the accuracy, with 63.4% of those screened as positive later receiving a diagnosis.
Identifying ASD earlier in childhood can help connect children and families to the support services they need.
