Timeliness of Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Use of Services Among U.S. Elementary School-Aged Children.

Psychiatr Serv

Dr. Zuckerman and Ms. Chavez are with the Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland (e-mail: ). Ms. Lindly is with the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis.

Published: January 2017

AI Article Synopsis

  • This study examined how the timing of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses affects the use of related services in U.S. children.
  • The research involved analyzing data from 722 children aged 6 to 11, focusing on the relationship between age at diagnosis, delays in diagnosis, and the current use of various health services.
  • Findings indicated that older age at diagnosis correlated with less use of behavioral interventions and school-based therapies, while longer diagnostic delays were linked to an increased reliance on complementary and alternative medicine.

Article Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the relationship of timeliness of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis with current use of ASD-related services in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children.

Methods: The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC's) Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services was used to assess experiences of 722 children ages six to 11 with ASD. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore associations between age at ASD diagnosis and delay in ASD diagnosis and use of health services. Health services included current use of behavioral intervention (BI) therapy, school-based therapy, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and psychotropic medications.

Results: Mean age at ASD diagnosis was 4.4 years, and mean diagnostic delay was 2.2 years. In adjusted analysis, older age at diagnosis (≥4 versus <4) was associated with lower likelihood of current BI or school-based therapy use and higher likelihood of current psychotropic medication use. Analyses that treated age at diagnosis as a continuous variable found that likelihood of current psychotropic medication use increased with older age at diagnosis. A delay of two or more years between parents' first discussion of concerns with a provider and ASD diagnosis was associated with higher likelihood of current CAM use. Likelihood of current CAM use increased as delay in diagnosis became longer.

Conclusions: Both older age at diagnosis and longer delay in diagnosis were associated with different health services utilization patterns among younger children with ASD. Prompt and early diagnosis may be associated with increased use of evidence-based therapies for ASD.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5205571PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201500549DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

asd diagnosis
16
timeliness autism
8
autism spectrum
8
spectrum disorder
8
diagnosis services
8
age asd
8
health services
8
diagnosis
7
services
5
asd
5

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!