Remote Delivery of Allied and Behavioral Healthcare During COVID-19 for Children With Developmental Disabilities

Details

• Alternative Title:
  JAACAP Open
• Personal Author:
  Wiggins, Lisa D. ; Tian, Lin H. ; Tinker, Sarah C. ; Yeargin-Allsopp, Marshalyn ; DiGuiseppi, Carolyn G. ; Nadler, Cy ; Powell, Patrick S. ; Moody, Eric J. ; Durkin, Maureen S. ; Fallin, M. Danielle ; Ryerson, A. Blythe ; Thierry, JoAnn M. ; Robinson, Britney ; Pazol, Karen
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DD) transitioned to telehealth services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objectives were to describe reductions in allied and behavioral healthcare services and receipt of caregiver training to deliver services at home because of COVID-19 for children with ASD and other DD, and factors associated with worse response to remote delivery of services for children with ASD.
  
  Method:
  
  Prior to the pandemic, children 2 to 5 years of age were enrolled in a multi-site case-control study and completed a developmental assessment. Caregivers completed questionnaires on child behavior problems and ASD symptoms. Children were classified as having ASD vs another DD based on standardized diagnostic measures. Subsequently, caregivers completed a survey during January to June 2021 to assess how COVID-19 affected children and families.
  
  Results:
  
  Caregivers reported that most children with ASD and other DD had a decrease in service hours (50.0%−76.9% by service type) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children with ASD were significantly more likely to experience reduced speech/language therapy than children with other DD. Receipt of caregiver training to deliver services at home ranged from 38.1% to 57.4% by service type. Among children with ASD, pre-pandemic problems with internalizing behaviors and social communication/interaction were associated with worse response to behavioral telehealth but no other common therapies.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Our study demonstrates the caregiver-reported impacts of COVID-19 on remote delivery of allied and behavioral healthcare services for children with ASD and other DD. Considerations for caregiver support and remote delivery of services are provided.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Autism COVID-19 Developmental Disabilities Telehealth
• Source:
  JAACAP Open. 2(1):36-44
• Pubmed ID:
  38533351
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10964929
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2e41281105a974afe452376386d3bbd89d3b815fbce65f119324be1664056c27b0c3dff8f86e6bd18419ef9c645bc3d154b2862d4126540f7c66c1a14c7c2de9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/153565/cdc_153565_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 355.63 KB ]