Improving Efficiency and Quality of the Children's ASD Diagnostic Pathway: Lessons Learned from Practice.

This study reports statistically significant reductions in waiting times for autism diagnostic assessment following a children's health service improvement programme. The average wait between referral and first appointment reduced from 14.2 to 10.4 weeks (t(21) = 4.3, p < 0.05) and between referral and diagnosis shared, reduced from 270 to 122.5 days, (t(20) = 5.5, p < 0.05). The proportion of girls identified increased from 5.6 to 2.7:1. Methods reported include: local improvement action planning; evidence based pathways; systematic clinical data gathering and a training plan. This is a highly significant finding for many health services wrestling with the challenges of demand and capacity for autism diagnosis and assessment.
PMID: 29189916 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 30, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Rutherford M, Burns M, Gray D, Bremner L, Clegg S, Russell L, Smith C, O'Hare A Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: research