Pediatricians could help diagnose children with autism earlier by asking parents to fill out a simple, five-minute checklist when they take their babies in for first-year checkups, according to research released today.
The federally funded study involving more than 10,000 infants found that the questionnaire appeared to identify about half of children who eventually would be diagnosed with the brain disorder.
Early diagnosis would allow doctors to treat children with autism sooner, when therapy appears to be much more effective. By allowing scientists to study children with autism when they are younger, it could also provide crucial new insights into the disease’s causes, further dispelling discredited theories about vaccines and other supposed risk factors, as well as leading to better ways to diagnose and treat the disorder.
More than 36,000 children in the United States get diagnoses each year of autism spectrum disorder, a condition marked by social, communication and behavioral problems. Most are not identified until about age 5. Researchers have been trying to find the signs in younger children in order to start intensive therapy sooner and try to minimize abnormal behaviors.
In the new study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, Karen Pierce and her colleagues at the University of California at San Diego recruited 137 pediatricians in San Diego County to ask all parents of 1-year-olds coming in for well-baby checkups to fill out the 24-item questionnaire. The checklist was originally developed to identify language and developmental delays by asking parents questions about subtle variations in their child’s gaze, sounds, words, gestures and other behaviors.
Out of 10,479 infants who were screened between 2005 and 2009, 184 were referred for more specialized testing based on the results. Of those, 37 were found to have autism. After following the children for about three more years, the researchers found that 32 still met the criteria for autism.
Because autism occurs in about 65 out of every 10,000 children, Pierce said, the results indicate that the screening can catch about half of children with autism.
Advocates for families said better testing could help many parents.
A reliable method to diagnosing autism earlier would ease unfounded fears or confirm well-founded suspicions.
