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Children’s Compliance with American Academy of Pediatrics’ Well-Child Care Visit Guidelines and the Early Detection of Autism

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Abstract

This study estimated compliance with American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for well-child care and the association between compliance and age at diagnosis in a national sample of Medicaid-enrolled children with autism (N = 1,475). Mixed effects linear regression was used to assess the relationship between compliance and age at diagnosis. Mean age at diagnosis was 37.4 (SD 8.4) months, and mean compliance was 55 % (SD 33 %). Children whose care was compliant with AAP guidelines were diagnosed 1.6 months earlier than children who received no well-child care. Findings support that the timely receipt of well-child care may contribute to earlier detection. Additional research on the contribution of compliance, well-child visit components and provider characteristics on the timely diagnosis of autism is needed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the following National Institute of Mental Health grants: R01 MH077000 and F31 MH091833.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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  1. Amy M. Daniels

    Present address: Autism Speaks, 1 East 33rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Amy M. Daniels

  2. Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, 3rd Fl., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    David S. Mandell

  3. Center for Autism Research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market Street, 3rd Fl., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    David S. Mandell

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Correspondence to Amy M. Daniels.

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Daniels, A.M., Mandell, D.S. Children’s Compliance with American Academy of Pediatrics’ Well-Child Care Visit Guidelines and the Early Detection of Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 2844–2854 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1831-x

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