Autism Spectrum Disorder Alertness in Dutch Youth and Family Center Physicians: Effects of a Live Online Educational Program

Abstract

We investigated the effect of a live online educational program in 93 Dutch Youth and Family Center (YFC) physicians who were screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the general child population. The educational program raised the physicians' level of specific ASD knowledge and it remained higher at six months follow-up (p < .01). Their self-confidence in detecting ASD was also higher and maintained at follow-up (p < .01). The educational program had no effect on the physicians' stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness nor on the number of potential ASD referrals in children of 4-6 years of age. In conclusion, the online educational program on early detection of ASD has a six month long effect on YFC physicians' level of ASD knowledge and self-confidence. KeywordsAutism spectrum disorder • Screening • Educational program • Preventive care physicians Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with an the estimated prevalence of one in * Wietske A. Ester

The impact of autism-related training programs on physician knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice behavior: A systematic review

“…Residents reported statistically significant increases in knowledge and self-efficacy after completing a specialized training program (Major et al, 2013). Physicians reported similar significant increases in knowledge and self-efficacy (Mazurek, Parker, et al, 2020; van ‘t Hof et al, 2021) while also showing improvements in autism screening rates (Carbone et al, 2016; Mazurek et al, 2019). Additional details about the outcome measures used in these studies can be seen in Table 2.…”

“…For example, one study utilized the Autism Spectrum Disorder Knowledge Questionnaire–Physician Edition (AKQ-P) to show that an educational program led to an initial increase in both general autism knowledge and physician-specific autism knowledge. This study showed that while physician-specific autism knowledge remained increased at six months post-training, general autism knowledge did not (van ‘t Hof et al, 2021). Another study measured both the objective and self-assessed knowledge of residents and found that both had been significantly increased after they participated in a case-based training program (Major et al, 2013).…”

“…While one took the form of a two-day workshop (Warren et al, 2009), another was only two h long (Eray & Murat, 2017). Three of the 12 non-ECHO programs (2 medium-quality and 1 low-quality) occurred entirely online (Pasco et al, 2014; Taslibeyaz et al, 2017; van ‘t Hof et al, 2021). While some of the online-only courses occurred live over the span of a few weeks and required the physician to join at a particular time (van ‘t Hof et al, 2021), others were asynchronous and could be completed in any time frame (Pasco et al, 2014).…”

“…Three of the 12 non-ECHO programs (2 medium-quality and 1 low-quality) occurred entirely online (Pasco et al, 2014; Taslibeyaz et al, 2017; van ‘t Hof et al, 2021). While some of the online-only courses occurred live over the span of a few weeks and required the physician to join at a particular time (van ‘t Hof et al, 2021), others were asynchronous and could be completed in any time frame (Pasco et al, 2014). It is also important to note that most of the training programs, even those that occurred exclusively online, had some live interactive component.…”

“…For example, one study found that physicians became more comfortable with identifying the symptoms of ASD, making appropriate diagnoses and referrals, and providing care to autistic children (Hine et al, 2021). Another study found that levels of self-efficacy remained increased six months following the completion of a training program (van ‘t Hof et al, 2021), suggesting that these educational programs are able to have a lasting impact on physicians’ confidence in their ability to provide care to autistic individuals.…”