Autism spectrum disorders: a review of measures for clinical, health services and cost–effectiveness applications

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication and behavioral functioning that can affect the health-related quality-of-life outcomes of the affected child and the family. ASDs have increased in prevalence, leading to a demand for improved understanding of the comparative effectiveness of different pharmacologic, behavioral, medical and alternative treatments for children as well as systems for providing services. This review describes outcome instruments that can be used for clinical, health services and cost–effectiveness applications. There is a pressing need to identify the most appropriate instruments for measuring health-related quality-of-life outcomes in this population. Studies evaluating the cost–effectiveness of interventions or treatments for children with ASDs using the cost per quality-adjusted life year metric are lacking. Researchers have the potential to contribute greatly to the field of autism by quantifying outcomes that can inform optimal treatment strategies.

Keywords::

• autism spectrum disorders
• behavioral outcomes
• children
• clinical outcomes
• economic evaluation
• HRQL
• preference-weighted scores

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Nupur Chowdhury for assistance with the preparation of this manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This project was supported by award number R01MH089466 from the National Institute of Mental Health with K Kuhlthau and JM Tilford serving as Principal Investigators. JM Tilford also received support from the NIH (Grant # 1UL1RR029884) through the Translational Research Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the NIH. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.