The Impact of Using Standardized Autism Screening on Referral to Specialist Evaluation for Young Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: We tested whether the implementation of standardized, high-fidelity screening for autism during routine well-child check-ups results in the following: increasing the number of children with suspected autism referred to diagnostic evaluation; lowering the age at which they are referred; and facilitating autism diagnosis for children across a more diverse range of demographic backgrounds and clinical presentations, including those with subtle manifestations.

Method: As part of a multi-site cluster randomized trial, pediatric practices were randomly assigned to an experimental condition involving training and supervision in the universal, standardized, high-fidelity implementation of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F), or a usual care condition. Children in both conditions identified as having a high likelihood of autism during well-child visits were referred to a diagnostic evaluation conducted by clinicians naive to referral source.

Results: Children referred to the diagnostic evaluation from the practices in the experimental condition were more numerous (n = 186) and younger (mean age = 20.65 months) than those referred from the practices in the usual care condition (n = 39; mean age = 23.58 months). Children referred by experimental practices who received an autism diagnosis had milder clinical presentations across measures of cognitive, language, adaptive, and social-communication functioning, compared to those referred from usual care practices. Demographic characteristics were similar across groups.

Conclusion: Standardized, high-fidelity implementation of autism screening during pediatric well-child visits facilitates the identification of children with high autism likelihood at a younger age, including those presenting with more subtle clinical manifestations.

Clinical trial registration information: Promoting Positive Outcomes for Individuals With ASD: Linking Early Detection, Treatment, and Long-term Outcomes; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT03333629.