Evaluating an evidence-based online screening tool to identify learning disability

Background Many people with a learning disability are unable to benefit from health improvement measures because their learning disability is unrecognised. Screening tools such as the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q) can assist with the identification of learning disability.

Aim To explore whether the use of a new online version of the CAIDS-Q to identify whether or not an individual was likely to have a learning disability was consistent with reported learning disability as identified previously by a healthcare or education professional.

Methods Anonymous data from people who used the online CAIDS-Q in the first weeks of the launch were collated and analysed.

Results Of the 159 people who used the online CAIDS-Q, 126 (79%) were family members and/or carers of the person being screened and 31 (19%) were professionals (predominantly healthcare and education professionals). Of the 52 people who had been identified previously as having a learning disability, 47 (90%) were correctly identified as such by the CAIDS-Q score.

Conclusion The CAIDS-Q online screening tool for learning disability can be used by professionals and parents. It correctly identified 90% of people who had previously been identified as having a learning disability. The accuracy of the online version of the CAIDS-Q is similar to hard copy versions, which suggests that it may be an accurate tool that can assist with the identification of people with a learning disability.