title: Feasibility and validity of early screening for identifying infants with poor social-communication development in a well-baby clinic system.
abstract: This study examined the feasibility and validity of implementing an autism spectrum disorders (ASD) screening for 12-month-old infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of 583 infants, 12months of age attending well baby clinics (WBCs), completed the First Year Inventory-Lite (FYI-L). Ten infants who failed the FYI-L and a subset of 12 infants who passed the identified FYI-L were evaluated using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Information regarding social-communication development ≥24months of age was extracted from medical records of 153 of the 583 infants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean response rate across clinics was 26.63%. Infants at risk compared to controls showed significantly higher scores on the AOSI, lower composite scores on the MSEL, and a higher rate of referral for a developmental evaluation. At 24months, 95% of infants who were negatively screened had no social-communication problems on their medical records; 60% of those who were screened positive had documented problems on medical records.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ASD screening using the FYI-L at 12months in a healthcare setting identifies infants with poor social-communication development, yet parents had low compliance with screening.
authors: Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: asasson@univ.haifa.ac.il.
authors: Ayelet
authors: A
authors: Ben-Sasson
authors: Haifa District, Ministry of Health, Haifa, Israel.
authors: Sonia
authors: S
authors: Habib
authors: Hannah Khousy Child Development Center, Bnai Zion Medical Center and Rappoport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors: Emanuel
authors: E
authors: Tirosh
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012919:Social Behavior; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: ASD; Autism; Community screening; Feasibility; Infants; Social development; Validity