A systematic review of telehealth screening, assessment, and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

There is a significant delay between parents having concerns and receiving a formal assessment and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Telemedicine could be an effective alternative that shortens the waiting time for parents and primary health providers in ASD screening and diagnosis. We conducted a systematic review examining the uses of telemedicine technology for ASD screening, assessment, or diagnostic purposes and to what extent sample characteristics and psychometric properties were reported. This study searched four databases from 2000 to 2022 and obtained 26 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The 17 applications used in these 26 studies were divided into three categories based on their purpose: screening, diagnostic, and assessment. The results described the data extracted, including study characteristics, applied methods, indicators seen, and psychometric properties. Among the 15 applications with psychometric properties reported, the sensitivity ranged from 0.70 to 1, and the specificity ranged from 0.38 to 1. The present study highlights the strengths and weaknesses of current telemedicine approaches and provides a basis for future research. More rigorous empirical studies with larger sample sizes are needed to understand the feasibility, strengths, and limitations of telehealth technologies for screening, assessing, and diagnosing ASD.