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. 2022 Dec;52(12):5126-5138.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05434-0. Epub 2022 Jan 22.

Identifying Patient Characteristics to Understand Which Children May Receive Diagnostic Clarity in a Virtual Autism Spectrum Disorder Evaluation

Randi A Phelps  1 , Erika Sample  2 , Rachel K Greene  3 , Susanne W Duvall  3
Affiliations

Identifying Patient Characteristics to Understand Which Children May Receive Diagnostic Clarity in a Virtual Autism Spectrum Disorder Evaluation

Randi A Phelps et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Given long waitlists for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) evaluation coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to triage patients to services they are likely to receive diagnostic clarity (i.e., virtual, in-person evaluation). Participants attended a virtual ASD assessment. A subset also attended in-person evaluation. Results suggest younger children with educational services for ASD may benefit from virtual assessment while older patients with a history of psychiatric conditions may benefit from in-person evaluation. An ASD symptom severity tool related to virtual and in-person diagnostic clarity. Family history of ASD related to in-person diagnosis while other variables (e.g., age, educational services) did not. The study suggests patient characteristics may be used to determine for whom virtual ASD assessment may be appropriate.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Diagnosis; Telemedicine; Virtual assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart outlining participant diagnostic outcomes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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