17871
Using Mobile Technologies in-Situ to Train Examiners in the Behavioral Assessment of Infants and Toddlers
Examining early social-communicative behaviors during infancy allows the detection of risk for language and social delays, important for the early detection of autism. As recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), our goal is to develop a method for whole population behavioral screening and to develop a method for training non-expert examiners in the rapid assessment of children’s social-communication abilities, which may serve as a supplement to parental report. Using a brief 4-minute interactive assessment (i.e., the Rapid-ABC), we have collected preliminary data from a community sample of 125 infants, which shows promising results; however, to achieve population-level screening, we must reduce the cost of personnel training, improve our ability to disseminate training and assessment protocols, and collect data on a continuous basis to update local, national, and international norms.
Objectives:
The study objective is to implement a mobile technology solution that will overcome the training, data collection, and data management obstacles required for full population screening of infants and toddlers.
Methods:
Subjects: We will present pilot data from a feasibility study conducted at a child psychology research site, and a clinic site that serves children at genetic risk for autism
Training phase: The R-ABC currently exists as a one-page form with an accompanying 13-page training and scoring manual, and requires an extended training process. To overcome training obstacles, we are testing the use of a mobile application (app) to 1) provide R-ABC examiners detailed training, which is time and cost efficient, 2) streamline scoring procedures to minimize disruption of the examiner-child interactions, and 3) ensure accurate and complete data collection. The training app presents task instructions in a sequential manner, provides “help” buttons to explain code definitions, and allows automated scoring.
Data collection phase: At enrollment, the child’s parent is presented with a consent form on which personal identifying information is entered. Enrollment data is linked to the de-identified examination electronic record through a numeric barcode label on the form which is scanned directly into the electronic survey through the device camera. Once entered, the data are transmitted through an encrypted connection to a secure server, where it can be accessed through a web-based interface.
Results:
This technology, although in an early phase of evaluation, streamlines the processes of training, administration, scoring, and information management. Through a hands-on demonstration, we will illustrate the benefits of mobile technology in the training and administration of the R-ABC. We will also show how data collected “in the field” can be accessed via a dynamic user interface to access data and produce automated reports of individual and group data.
Conclusions:
We conclude that mobile technology innovation provides a solution for training examiners in the field to conduct brief behavioral assessments, and that these innovations can provide a solution for population screening, secure transmission of data, and aggregation and management of large datasets. We also conclude that such a model could be used for behavioral research nationally and internationally.