Information and Communication Technologies to Support Early Screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review is to identify recent digital technologies used to detect early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool children (i.e., up to six years of age). A systematic literature search was performed for English language articles and conference papers indexed in Pubmed, PsycInfo, ERIC, CINAHL, WoS, IEEE, and ACM digital libraries up until January 2020. A follow-up search was conducted to cover the literature published until December 2020 for the usefulness and interest in this area of research during the Covid-19 emergency. In total, 2427 articles were initially retrieved from databases search. Additional 481 articles were retrieved from follow-up search. Finally, 28 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The studies included involved four main interface modalities: Natural User Interface (e.g., eye trackers), PC or mobile, Wearable, and Robotics. Most of the papers included (n = 20) involved the use of Level 1 screening tools. Notwithstanding the variability of the solutions identified, psychometric information points to considering available technologies as promising supports in clinical practice to detect early sign of ASD in young children. Further research is needed to understand the acceptability and increase use rates of technology-based screenings in clinical settings.

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

“…Among the studies reporting psychometric information (n = 15), 8 reported sensitivity and specificity values equal to or greater than 75%. However, it should be noted that sensitivity values below this threshold may not indicate poor psychometric properties as the tool may be reliable for detecting specific subgroups of ASD patients [ 11 , 34 ].…”

“…Other reviews have mainly focused on the psychometric properties of telemedicine for ASD diagnostics [ 23 , 42 , 43 ]. For instance, Desideri et al [ 11 ] reviewed the application of telemedicine for the early screening of children with ASD under 6 years of age along with psychometric properties. However, none of the previous literature reviews have comprehensively examined the application and observed behavioral indicators of telemedicine for the screening and diagnosis of ASD.…”

The Value of Brain Imaging and Electrophysiological Testing for Early Screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

“…Various psychometric screening instruments have been proposed and applied to improve early detection and diagnosis in ASD (Levy et al, 2020;Petrocchi et al, 2020). In recent years, information and communication technologies (ICT) related products such as smartphones, tablets, eye trackers, or robots (Desideri et al, 2021), home video (Tariq et al, 2018), multi-modular AI approaches (Abbas et al, 2020), and machine learning strategies (Achenie et al, 2019) have offered easier and comparable alternative psychometric screening for ASD. However, these psychometric screening methods are not readily implemented during infancy.…”

A Multidisciplinary Telerehabilitation Approach for Supporting Social Interaction in Autism Spectrum Disorder Families: An Italian Digital Platform in Response to COVID-19

“…There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the role of telemedicine in ASD diagnosis and interventions, especially during the COVID-19 emergency [ 18 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. For instance, Narzisi [ 18 ] proposed a telemedicine working model for the preliminary diagnosis and intervention of children with ASD, using synchronous and asynchronous transmission.…”