Tools for early screening of autism spectrum disorders in primary health care – a scoping review

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in early childhood. Early diagnosis of these disorders allows for the initiation of early therapy, which is crucial for the child's further functioning in society. OBJECTIVES: This review aims to gather and present the existing ASD screening tools that can be used in primary care and adapted to different countries conditions linguistically and culturally. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We searched for English-language publications on ASD screening tools for children aged 0–3 years suitable for use in primary care (i.e. free, requiring no additional training or qualifications). SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: Four databases were explored to find English studies on ASD screening tools intended for the rapid assessment of children aged 0–3. CHARTING METHODS: The information sought (specific features of the questionnaires relevant to primary health care workers, psychometric and diagnostic values of a given cultural adaptation of screening tools, and the linguistic and cultural changes made) were extracted and collected to create profiles of these tools. RESULTS: We found 81 studies which met inclusion criteria and underwent full data extraction. Three additional data sources were included. These allowed to create 75 profiles of adaptations for 26 different screening tools and collect data on their psychometric values and characteristic features. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study indicate the availability of several diagnostic tools for early ASD screening in primary care setting concordant culturally and linguistically with a given population. They could be an effective method of accelerating the diagnostic process and starting personalized therapy faster. However, most tools have significant limitations – some are only available for research purposes, while others do not have scientific evidence to prove their effectiveness. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-022-01645-7.