Evaluating an On-line Education Module for Autism Screening in Pediatric Primary Care in Arizona

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is 1 in 68 children and this number continues to rise. Early diagnosis and intervention is the strongest predictor of optimal patient outcomes in children with ASD. Although ASD can be diagnosed as early as 2 years of age, the average age of diagnosis is between 4.4 and 5.7 years and only 17% of primary care providers (PCPs) routinely screen for ASD. PCPs report lack of knowledge and training to recognize ASD and administer ASD screening tools as one major barrier to timely screening. Interventions aimed at improving provider knowledge of ASD and ASD screening have resulted in increased PCP knowledge and subsequently increased rates of timely screening and referral for ASD. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web-based Autism Case Training (ACT) module, Identifying Autism Spectrum Disorder, in improving provider knowledge of ASD and ASD screening using the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, revised (M-CHAT-R) screening tool. Methods: A one group pretest, posttest, and evaluation survey sent via an e-mail listserv to primary care pediatric nurse practitioners (PC-PNPs) with an active membership in the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) Arizona Chapter. Results: The small sample size of two participants limited the authors ability to run statistical analysis via the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test to assess change in provider knowledge following implementation of the ACT module. Conclusion: It cannot be concluded that presenting the ACT education module to PC-PNPs, improves provider knowledge of ASD and ASD screening using the M-CHAT-R.