Preliminary Validation and Feasibility of the Autism Detection in Early Childhood-Virtual (ADEC-V) for Autism Telehealth Evaluations in a Hospital Setting

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 52; no. 12; pp. 5139 - 5149
• Main Authors: Kryszak, Elizabeth M., Albright, Charles M., Stephenson, Kevin G., Nevill, Rose E., Hedley, Darren, Burns, Claire O., Young, Robyn L., Butter, Eric M., Vargo, Kerrigan, Mulick, James A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Access to Health Care; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Childhood; Children; Children & youth; Demographic aspects; Diagnosis; Evaluation; Families & family life; Feasibility; Feasibility Studies; Hospitals; Neurosciences; Pandemics; Pediatrics; Pervasive developmental disorders; Preschool Children; Psychology; Public Health; Quantitative psychology; S.I. :Expanding Telehealth Opportunities in Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Screening Tests; Telecommunications; Telemedicine; Test Validity; Validation studies; United States; Screening; Psychometrics; Young children; Telemedicine; Autism spectrum disorder; Assessment
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05433-1

This study provided preliminary validation of the Autism Detection in Early Childhood-Virtual (ADEC-V) for telehealth assessment of possible autism. Participants were 121 children (24.79% female) aged 18–47 months who completed telehealth evaluations at a large pediatric hospital in the Midwestern United States between October 2020 and February 2021. The ADEC-V showed good sensitivity (0.82) and specificity (0.78) and was significantly correlated with other ASD symptom measures (i.e., CARS-2, ADI-R). Internal consistency was acceptable (α = 0.77). These results need replication in a larger and broader sample including more children without ASD. This preliminary validation study identifies the ADEC-V as a promising measure for telehealth ASD assessments in young children.