This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Modified checklist still effective in screening toddlers for autism
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, or M-CHAT, is effective in screening for autism spectrum disorder when the two-step screening process is used, new research suggests.
The study included toddlers aged 16 to 30 months who were screened at well-child visits by the M-CHAT and M-CHAT Follow-up (M-CHAT/F). Participants who screened positive received the M-CHAT/F, and those who continued to screen positive afterward received a diagnostic evaluation.
Only 9.1% of the 18,989 participants screened positive and required the M-CHAT/F, of whom 74.6% completed the M-CHAT/F and 21% continued to screen positive and offered evaluation.
Researchers found that 54% of participants who screened positive on both tests had an autism spectrum disorder, and almost all (98%) had clinically significant developmental concerns that needed intervention. Participants with developmental concerns had characteristics of a diagnostic condition but did not meet criteria for a diagnosis.
M-CHAT cutoff scores of at least three identify nearly all screen-positive cases, whereas scores of seven are an appropriate clinical cutoff, and providers can refer a patient directly to evaluation if a score is at least seven.
“Screening with the M-CHAT has the potential to greatly reduce the age at diagnosis, facilitate early intervention, and optimize long-term prognosis; children screened with the current study diagnosis were diagnosed >1 year earlier (mean age at diagnosis of 25 months) than the current median age at diagnosis in the United States,” researchers said.
Collapse
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts