Parent Perspectives on Mobile Health Autism Screeners

PURPOSE: Mobile health (mHealth) screening tools for autism are gaining in prevalence and have the potential to improve inequities in autism screening for families of color and/or low-income families. It is unclear whether current tools will reduce disparities or further help those already advantaged in autism care. METHODS: User testing and qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 English and/or Spanish speaking parents of children with high or low autism likelihood and were less than 5 years old. Parents were low-income and/or a parent of a child of color. Parents were asked about their general technology knowledge in phone interviews and tested 1–2 mHealth autism screening tools at an in-person interview using their own mobile device. Each interview was video-recorded and transcribed. Verbal and non-verbal information was coded using a phenomenological approach to develop key themes. Spanish videos and transcripts were coded in the original language by 2 bilingual team members. RESULTS: 4 themes and 9 subthemes emerged. These included tool accessibility (e.g. physical/logistical access, parent skills and background), tool usability (e.g. content, design and function), tool purpose and appropriateness (e.g. tool links to resources and next steps, tool role in accessing autism care), and tool acceptability (e.g. data privacy and trust, tool legitimacy and parent trust in tool, tool framing of autism/disability). CONCLUSION: Parents suggested improvements such as reducing reading level of text, improved question wording to clarify response options, and making tools shorter to fit in parents’ daily lives.