Large study finds autism screening system may not be as effective

A large new study finds that a commonly used autism screening checklist is not as effective at detecting the condition in children as previous research has suggested. Other work has tested the checklist in research settings, but the new study used electronic health record data of nearly 26,000 children at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Only around 40% of the children who were ultimately diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were diagnosed using the checklist. Still, those who were diagnosed using the system were diagnosed about seven months earlier than those who were screened negative, suggesting an avenue to also begin early intervention. Overall, some 2% of children were diagnosed with autism, a figure that is consistent with the CDC’s national estimates of the prevalence of the condition.