title: The relationship between waiting times and 'adherence' to the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 98 guideline in autism spectrum disorder diagnostic services in Scotland.
abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 98 guidelines on the assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder were adhered to in child autism spectrum disorder diagnostic services in Scotland and whether there was a significant relationship between routine practice which more closely reflected these recommendations (increased adherence) and increased waiting times. Retrospective, cross-sectional case note analysis was applied to data from 80 case notes. Adherence ranged from a possible 0 (no adherence) to 19 (full adherence). Overall, 17/22 of the recommendations were adhered to in over 50 of the 80 cases and in 70 or more cases for 11/22 of the recommendations, with a mean adherence score of 16 (standard deviation = 1.9). No significant correlation was found between adherence and total wait time for untransformed (r = 0.15, p = 0.32) or transformed data (r = 0.12, p = 0.20). The results indicated that the assessment and diagnostic practices were consistent with the relevant Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 98 guideline recommendations. Increased adherence to the 19 included recommendations was not significantly related to increased total waiting times, indicating that the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 98 recommendations have generally been integrated into practice, without a resultant increase in patient waits.
authors.affiliation: Northumbria University, UK.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.affiliation: Queen Margaret University, UK.
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.affiliation: University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Hare
authors.affiliation: University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Iain
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.affiliation: Queen Margaret University, UK mrutherford@qmu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.affiliation: Queen Margaret University, UK.
authors.forename: Aja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: NHS Lothian, UK.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Irvine
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003954:Diagnostic Services / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012606:Scotland; D013997:Time Factors; D014850:Waiting Lists
keywords: Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network; autism spectrum disorder; clinical guidelines; diagnosis; wait times