Delays in autism diagnosis for U.S. Spanish-speaking families: The contribution of appointment availability.

ABSTRACT: Promoting equity in health services requires an understanding of the mechanisms that produce disparities. Utilizing a sequential, mixed-methods, explanatory study design, we analyzed child-, family-, and organizational-level factors and their association with wait times for an ASD diagnostic evaluation among 353 families scheduled for English and Spanish language appointments (27% Spanish language). A subset of parents and caregivers participated in English and Spanish language focus groups to provide their perspectives on the diagnostic process. Spanish language was associated with greater completion of, and time to evaluations than English language. The only variable found to mediate associations with time-to-evaluation was appointment availability - an organizational factor. Qualitative

SUBMITTER: Chavez AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9273058 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature