Screening and Linkage to Services for Autism (SaLSA)

University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: Patient Navigation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02374541

14-1728

R40MC27702 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The SaLSA (Screening and Linkage to Services for Autism) study will test whether patient navigation can help disadvantaged families obtain earlier diagnosis and treatment for their children who have had a positive screening test for autism spectrum disorder. Half of the families will be offered help from an autism patient navigator. The other half will receive standard care.

Full description

Despite its relatively high rate of occurrence, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is under-diagnosed and under-treated in young children, particularly in minority and disadvantaged populations. Although screening for ASD in the primary care setting is recommended as best practice, inadequate attention has been paid to addressing important obstacles to early recognition of ASD, including barriers to referral after positive screening, completion of diagnostic evaluations, and receipt of treatment. Patient navigation was originally developed to reduce health care disparities. The patient navigator guides patients with suspicious findings (e.g., a positive screening test) through and around barriers to care to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment. Patient navigation has improved receipt of preventive care among low-income, minority children but has not been tested for improving early identification and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. The goal of this study is to test the effectiveness and feasibility of patient navigation to facilitate autism screening follow-up, diagnostic evaluation, and linkage to early intervention in a very young, disadvantaged, minority population. To increase patient navigation's potential for widespread application and public health impact, this study uses the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, a set of criteria for translating research into action, to guide planning and evaluation. The intervention's Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance over time will be examined.

Enrollment: 305 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 16 to 32 months old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Receives medical care at Denver Community Health Services (DCHS) clinic
• Positive M-CHAT screening test (score 3 or higher) between ages 16 and 30 months at DCHS
• Resident of City and County of Denver

Exclusion criteria

• Existing diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder
• Sibling of enrolled subject

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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305 participants in 2 patient groups

Patient Navigation

Experimental group

Description:

Assistance from Autism Patient Navigator (APN) to obtain diagnostic evaluation / eligibility determination for possible autism spectrum disorder and, if indicated, early intervention services.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Patient Navigation

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Standard referral for diagnostic evaluation / eligibility determination for possible autism spectrum disorder and, if indicated, early intervention services.