ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2018
Improving Efficiency and Quality of the Children's ASD Diagnostic Pathway: Lessons Learned from Practice.
Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic Review of Autism in Women: Invisibilised Profiles and Gender Bias.Revista de neurologia · 2026Pooled it
- Building Bricks of Integrated Care Pathway for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Service redesign interventions to reduce waiting time for paediatric rehabilitation and therapy services: A systematic review of the literature.Health & social care in the community · 2022Pooled it
- Early-Life Feeding Behavior and Sensory Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Failure points in the early autism identification pathway for children aged 0-5 years: Why screening is not diagnosis.Pediatric investigation · 2026Review
- Confidence of Pediatric Primary Care Clinicians in Autism Screener Score and Their Own Diagnostic Impressions.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Investigating the role of three screening measures to support clinical decision-making in adult autism assessments.PloS one · 2025Article
- A national research survey of childhood autism assessment services in the UK: empirical evidence of diagnostic practice, challenges and improvement opportunities.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
- Expert Clinician Certainty in Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder in 16-30-Month-Olds: A Multi-site Trial Secondary Analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Article
- A new model for the diagnostic assessment services trajectory for neurodevelopmental conditions.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2024Article
- Obtaining a First Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Descriptions of the Diagnostic Process and Correlates of Parent Satisfaction from a National Sample.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
- Piloting a Home Visual Support Intervention with Families of Autistic Children and Children with Related Needs Aged 0-12.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- An observational study of individual child journeys through autism diagnostic pathways, and associated costs, in the UK National Health Service.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2023Article
- Implications of Universal Autism Screening: Perspectives From Culturally Diverse Families With False-Positive Screens.Academic pediatrics · 2022Article
- Review
- Development of a Pathway for Multidisciplinary Neurodevelopmental Assessment and Diagnosis in Children and Young People.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Referral, Assessment and Use of Screening Measures Related to Autism Spectrum Disorder at a Tertiary Hospital Setting.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Article
- Practice Patterns for Early Screening and Evaluation for Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis in Bulgaria.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Article
- Detection of Early Warning Signs in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Development of the Signposting Questionnaire for Autism (SQ-A): measurement comparison with the 10-item Autism Spectrum Quotient-Child and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in the UK and Latvia.Molecular autism · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The 'autism diagnosis crisis' and long waiting times for assessment are as yet unresolved, leading to undue stress and limiting access to effective support. There is therefore a significant need for evidence to support practitioners in the development of efficient services, delivering acceptable waiting times and effectively meeting guideline standards. 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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.