Formative evaluation of PREPARE for Autistic Adults: An adult autism training for resident physicians designed with autistic adults and family members.
Brittany N Hand, Daniel Gilmore, J Madison Hyer and 6 others
PMID 41769199WHAT IT FOUND
Residents rated an autism training as acceptable and appropriate, but only half completed the pre-recorded videos.
They valued hearing directly from autistic adults and practicing in a low-stakes setting. This is feedback to improve the training, not proof it works.
Key findings
01Participants rated the training highly for feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness, with median scores of 5 on most items.
02Completion rates varied by component: standardized patient encounters had the highest median completion (100.0%), while pre-recorded presentations had the lowest (58.3%).
03Qualitative feedback highlighted that hearing from autistic adults and practicing in a low-stakes environment made the training worthwhile.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study was conducted at a single institution with a very small sample size (14 participants). Participation was voluntary and outside of protected educational time, which may have introduced self-selection bias where only residents already interested in autism took part. This was a formative evaluation designed to improve the training, not to test whether the training actually changes physician behavior or patient outcomes. The training has not yet been tested for efficacy in a pilot study or randomized trial.
Declared interests
One author (BH) receives consulting fees for a federally funded project on ADHD treatment for autistic people, payment for panel membership in the CDMRP Autism Research Program, and travel reimbursement from the National Down Syndrome Society. The study was funded by grants from CDMRP, NIH, and PCORI.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high acceptability ratings or the residents' reports of changing practice as evidence that the training improves clinical outcomes for autistic adults. This study only evaluated whether residents liked the training and could complete it; it did not test whether the training makes physicians better at caring for autistic patients.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →