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Sridhar A, Kuhn J, Faja S, Sabatos-DeVito M, Nikolaeva JI, Dawson G, Nelson CA, Webb SJ, Bernier R, Jeste S, Chawarska K, Sugar CA, Shic F, Naples A, Dziura J, McPartland JC. Patterns of Intervention Utilization Among School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from a Multi-Site Research Consortium. RESEARCH IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS 2022; 94:101950. [PMID: 35444715 PMCID: PMC9015686 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2022.101950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
When designing and interpreting results from clinical trials evaluating treatments for children on the autism spectrum, a complicating factor is that most children receive a range of concurrent treatments. Thus, it is important to better understand the types and hours of interventions that participants typically receive as part of standard of care, as well as to understand the child, family, and geographic factors that are associated with different patterns of service utilization. In this multi-site study, we interviewed 280 caregivers of 6-to-11-year-old school-aged children on the autism spectrum about the types and amounts of interventions their children received in the prior 6 weeks. Reported interventions were coded as "evidence-based practice" or "other interventions," reflecting the level of empirical support. Results indicated that children received a variety of interventions with varying levels of empirical evidence and a wide range of hours (0 to 79.3 hours/week). Children with higher autism symptom levels, living in particular states, and who identified as non-Hispanic received more evidence-based intervention hours. Higher parental education level related to more hours of other interventions. Children who were younger, had lower cognitive ability, and with higher autism symptom levels received a greater variety of interventions overall. Thus, based on our findings, it would seem prudent when designing clinical trials to take into consideration a variety of factors including autism symptom levels, age, cognitive ability, ethnicity, parent education and geographic location. Future research should continue to investigate the ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic influences on school-aged intervention services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aksheya Sridhar
- Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Susan Faja
- Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maura Sabatos-DeVito
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Geraldine Dawson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Sara J. Webb
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle WA, USA
| | - Raphael Bernier
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle WA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Frederick Shic
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle WA, USA
| | | | - James Dziura
- Yale Center for Analytical Sciences, New Haven, CT USA
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