Correlations Between State-Level Monitoring and Screening Rates and Early Identified ASD/DD Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

Abstract

This study combined data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH; 2016–2019) to develop state-level percentages of Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic other race, and non-Hispanic White children receiving developmental screening and/or monitoring and diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder or developmental delay (ASD/DD). Analyses for the entire sample indicated no significant correlations between state-level screening/monitoring and ASD/DD; stratified analyses indicated correlations between monitoring and ASD/DD for Black populations and conjoint monitoring/screening and ASD/DD for Hispanic populations. Findings are contextualized around the limitations of the NSCH items, scope of community partners engaged in screening and monitoring, the importance of monitoring for identifying Black and Hispanic children with ASD/DD, and the utility of the NSCH's multiyear design.