JAMA

Eye-tracking tool may aid in early diagnosis of autism

September 11, 2023

Among 16- to 30-month-old children referred to specialty clinics, eye-tracking-based measurement of social visual engagement was predictive of autism diagnosis by clinical experts.

• This multisite, prospective, double-blind study enrolled 499 children ages 16 to 30 months of age between April 2018 and May 2019. Researchers who were blind to clinical diagnoses used automated devices to measure eye-tracking–based social visual engagement. Primary outcome measures were test sensitivity and specificity relative to expert clinical diagnosis.
• Eye-tracking measurement of social visual engagement was successful in 475 of the 499 children (95.2%): mean age, 24.1 months; 8.0% Asian; 7.8%, Black; 74.1%, White; 9.3%, other; and 14.3%, Hispanic. Experts clinically diagnosed autism in 221 children (46.5%). In all children, measurement of social visual engagement had sensitivity of 71.0% and specificity of 80.7%. Among a subgroup of 335 children whose autism diagnosis was certain, sensitivity was 78.0% and specificity was 85.4%.
• Authors call for further evaluation into the role of eye-tracking measurement in the early diagnosis and assessment of autism in routine specialty clinic practice.

Source:

Jones W, et al. (2023, September 5). JAMA. Eye-Tracking-Based Measurement of Social Visual Engagement Compared With Expert Clinical Diagnosis of Autism. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37668621/