PCPs play key role in autism
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The CDC recently announced that 1 in 54 children aged 8 years in 2016 had autism in the United States. The previous estimate for that age was 1 in 59 children in 2014 and 1 in 68 children in 2010.
The increasing prevalence underscores the importance of autism screening in the primary care setting, Amanda Bennett MD, MPH, clinical chair of the Autism Integrated Care Shared Governance Committee at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told Healio Primary Care.
“This is still a really common condition that many children can present with,” she said. “And the symptoms are really common. The primary care provider is the key player in being able to support families and helping them navigate all the different community resources and services that they’re going to need to help their child.”
Bennett and Patrick Shea, MD, an assistant clinical professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the UCSF School of Medicine Fresno, said the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) is the best screening tool for PCPs to use for children aged 16 to 30 months to ascertain who may benefit from additional developmental and autism testing.
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“[M-CHAT] has been very well studied and has been around for a couple of decades,” Shea said in an interview. “Researchers continue to refine its questions and mine its data.”
Additionally, the responsibility of PCPs to children with autism does not end as patients transition to adulthood, Bennett explained.
“There are so many big potential changes that come between the ages of 18 and 25,” she said. “While that’s true for everybody, when you add the complication of a person with autism who may have more difficulty with their communication skills, the person may have more difficulty navigating all these complex systems and may have fewer social supports.”
According to Bennett, PCPs can help patients at this age navigate challenging issues like employment, education and where to live.
She said future research should focus on services that help patients in these areas, as well as determining the cause of autism — a point that Shea emphasized as well — and how to treat it.
In recognition of Autism Awareness Month, Healio Primary Care compiled a list of relevant stories. – by Janel Miller
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Disclosures: Bennett reports receiving research funding from Autism Speaks, Neurim Pharmaceuticals, Roche Pharmaceuticals and Stemina Biomarker Discovery. Shea reports no relevant financial disclosures.