Cognoa Begins Clinical Study to Support Increased Parent Engagement in Early Detection and Early Intervention of Developmental Delays

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 3, 2015) - Cognoa, the healthcare company changing how parents evaluate and support their child's development, today announces the start of a multi-site clinical study with leading developmental centers. The study will leverage the use of Cognoa's innovative web and mobile tools to speed up the screening, assessment and care of children at risk for developmental delay. Findings could help large centers reduce barriers that delay intervention such as long wait times and healthcare disparities.

Although families report developmental concerns as early as age one, the average age of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis in the U.S. is five years old, according to a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics. Other studies have also found families are waiting as long as 18 months between their child's initial screening and diagnosis, and even longer if they are part of a minority population or lower socioeconomic group. Additionally, behavioral instruments and screening tools with the highest diagnostic validity require specially trained personnel and cannot be easily implemented in a pediatrician's office.

Cognoa's mobile app provides parents with rapid answers to address concerns about their children's development and helps them work with doctors to obtain a diagnosis and identify the best next steps for their children sooner. Through the app, families complete a quick 15-item questionnaire to find out if their child's development is on track. The answers are fed through the machine-learning engine that gives parents an estimate of risk in real time. Families then receive detailed feedback about important areas of their child's development, including next steps. Parents can obtain more detailed assessments by privately submitting short videos of their child's behavior at home for review by Cognoa.

"Parents reach out to Cognoa and tell us they appreciate the peace of mind our app provides and how it helps them understand they are not alone when it comes to having concerns about their children's development," said Brent Vaughan, Cognoa's CEO. 

Because the app is free to download, Cognoa's mobile solution gives parents access to experts, regardless of socioeconomic status. Cognoa takes less time than other screening tools, making it more appealing to both parents and doctors.

"Our goal is to use the data we gather from this trial to further support the use of Cognoa as the most rapid and accurate tool for assessing a child's risk for developmental delay in young children," said Dr. Clara Lajonchere, Cognoa's Chief Scientific Officer. "We've received incredibly positive feedback from parents and doctors who currently use Cognoa to evaluate developmental concerns and triage children on long wait lists. We see a great benefit to reducing wait times at diagnostic centers to get the right children to the front of the line sooner, ensuring they have access to the appropriate resources early, when it matters most."

The outcome of the study will result in a published paper.

To find out more about Cognoa, visit https://www.cognoa.com/.