Eye tracking test could be an objective test for autism in kids under 3

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-09-06 01:00

International

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Tracking the eyes of young toddlers to measure their level of social engagement could be an objective way to screen for autism at an earlier age, according to international researchers who say this could help reduce delays in diagnosis. In the first paper, specialty centre staff used automated eye-tracking devices to test about 500 children aged 16-30 months, and compared the results with expert clinical assessments. They say the test was successful for 95.2% of the children. In a second paper, the researchers describe two similar tests of eye-tracking as an autism diagnosis tool which they say also found it was a useful objective tool that agreed with expert diagnoses a majority of the time.

Media release

From: JAMA

About The Study: In a study of children ages 16 to 30 months assessed for autism in six specialty clinics, eye-tracking–based measurement of social visual engagement was predictive of autism diagnoses by clinical experts. Further evaluation of this test’s role in early diagnosis and assessment of autism in routine specialty clinic practice is warranted.

Authors: Warren Jones, Ph.D., of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, is the corresponding author.

Attachments

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Research JAMA, Web page Paper 1. The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Research JAMA, Web page Paper 2. The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Editorial / Opinion JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA, JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Marcus Autism Center, USA (both studies)

Funder: Paper 1: This study was supported by the Marcus Foundation and the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation. Paper 2: This study was supported by funding from the Marcus Foundation (Drs Jones and Klin), the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation (Drs Jones and Klin), and the Georgia Research Alliance (Drs Jones and Klin and Mr Lewis); grants HD068479 and U54 HD087011 from the NICHD (Dr Constantino); and grants MH100029 (Drs Jones and Klin) and MH100019 (Dr Marrus) from the NIMH.

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