Economic analysis of early intervention for autistic children: findings from four case studies in England, Ireland, Italy, and Spain

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Tinelli, M., Roddy, Á., Knapp, M., Arango, C., Méndez, M. A., Cusack, J., Murphy, D., Canitano, R., Oakley, B., & Quoidbach, V. (2023). Economic analysis of early intervention for autistic children: findings from four case studies in England, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. European Psychiatry, 66(1), e76-e76. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2449

Publication date: 1 Jan 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
10
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 10 (10.0%)
  1. Michela Tinelli
  2. Áine Roddy
  3. Martin Knapp
  4. Celso Arango
  5. María Andreina Méndez
  1. James Cusack *
  2. Declan Murphy
  3. Roberto Canitano
  4. Bethany Oakley
  5. Vinciane Quoidbach

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many autistic children experience difficulties in their communication and language skills development, with consequences for social development into adulthood, often resulting in challenges over the life-course and high economic impacts for individuals, families, and society. The Preschool Autism Communication Trial (PACT) intervention is effective in terms of improved social communication and some secondary outcomes. A previously published within-trial economic analysis found that results at 13 months did not support its cost-effectiveness. We modeled cost-effectiveness over 6 years and across four European countries. METHODS: Using simulation modeling, we built on economic analyses in the original trial, exploring longer-term cost-effectiveness at 6 years (in England). We adapted our model to undertake an economic analysis of PACT in Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Data on resource use were taken from the original trial and a more recent Irish observational study. RESULTS: PACT is cost-saving over time from a societal perspective, even though we confirmed that, at 13 months post-delivery, PACT is more expensive than usual treatment (across all countries) when given to preschool autistic children. After 6 years, we found that PACT has lower costs than usual treatment in terms of unpaid care provided by parents (in all countries). Also, if we consider only out-of-pocket expenses from an Irish study, PACT costs less than usual treatment. DISCUSSION: PACT may be recommended as a cost-saving early intervention for families with an autistic child.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:00.

Cited references
25
With a DOI
20
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
5
3 / 25 (12.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 25 (12.0%)
References with detected author names
22 / 25 (88.0%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
5
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
173
From DOI or external metadata
173
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
96 / 173 (55.5%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 77 / 173 (44.5%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
5 / 173 (2.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 5 / 96 (5.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 5 / 107 (4.7%).
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