Journal of Pediatrics & Child Care

Research Article

Evaluating the Feasibility and Utility of an Educational Webinar Series on Autism for Pediatric Primary Care Providers: A Pilot Study

Ayala-Brittain ML1, Bergez-Cohn KC1, Mire SS1,2, Ahmed KL4, Berry LN3,4, Monteiro SA4, Strickland DC5 and Goin-Kochel RP3,4*

1Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
2Department of Educational Psychology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
3Psychology Section, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
4Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics &Autism, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
5DiagnoseFirst, Raleigh, NC, USA
*Address for Correspondence: Goin-Kochel RP, Psychology Section, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Telephone: 832-824-3390; Facsimile: 832-825-3399; E-mail: kochel@bcm.edu
Submission: 10 February, 2023
Accepted: 24 March, 2023
Published: 29 March, 2023
Copyright: © 2023 Ayala-Brittain ML, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background: Parents of children later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently raise concerns about their child’s behavior and development with their pediatric primary care providers (PPCPs). However, few PPCPs make timely referrals to ASD specialists following positive ASD-screening results, and even fewer evaluate for ASD themselves-actions that contribute to the ASD-detection gap (i.e., the time span between first concerns and eventual diagnosis). Some literature suggests that PPCPs’ lack of knowledge about and/or confidence in managing ASD/suspected ASD contributes to referral and diagnostic delays.
Methods: To evaluate the utility of an online educational platform to guide PPCPs in the early identification and management of ASD, we invited PPCPs within a hospital-affiliated, pediatric-practice network to participate in a three-part webinar series on screening, diagnosis, and referral practices for ASD. Each webinar lasted approximately one hour and conferred one continuing medical education credit. Pre- and post-test surveys were imbedded within each webinar and solicited open-ended feedback.
Results: Among 288 potential participants, 37 (12.8%) completed the first of three webinars and 28 (9.7%) completed all three. All pre-post knowledge and confidence scores increased significantly for each webinar (all p ≤ .001). Participants’ openended feedback was largely positive; most reports cited information about the M-CHAT-R/F follow-up interview (Screening webinar), videos contrasting neurotypical/atypical behaviors (Diagnosis webinar), information on testing/medical workup (Referral webinar), and referral resources (Referral webinar) as the most helpful aspects.
Conclusion: The PPCP response rate was relatively low, despite efforts to increase engagement with the webinars. This may have resulted from lack of time, a frequently reported barrier to PPCPs’ participation in educational activities. Among those who participated, significant knowledge and confidence gains were observed, and provider feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Findings have implications for the development/refinement of such webinars for broader distribution, as well as alternate learning platforms to increase utility.