A study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders shows physicians can use telemedicine to assess and diagnose autism spectrum disorders in young children.
For the study, researchers compared telediagnostic accuracy to blinded gold-standard evaluations. All autism spectrum disorder cases identified via telemedicine were confirmed by in-person evaluation. Approximately 45 children and caregivers completed the telemedicine procedure and provided feedback.
Researchers found clinicians remotely diagnosed 62 percent of children with autism spectrum disorder accurately. But, they did not feel capable of definitely diagnosing 13 percent of the cases with autism spectrum disorders.
"Findings support preliminary feasibility, accuracy and clinical utility of telemedicine-based assessment of autism spectrum disorder for young children," study authors concluded.