AIM

Undertake a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of health check delivery, and the effectiveness of the health check at identifying autistic people's health conditions and needs.

When will the trial be running?

This trial will be running from December 2022 to May 2025.

Who is taking part?

Forty-two GP practices across the North of England are taking part in the trial and were randomly allocated to one of two groups. The two groups are:

1. Autism Health Check Group. People in this group will be invited to attend a health check by their GP practice. The health check will take place at their GP practice and will be carried out by a relevant health professional. We have recruited 115 autistic adults to this group.
2. Current Primary Care Services. People in this group will continue to receive the same services from their GP practice as they usually do. We have recruited 117 autistic adults to this group.

This allows us to make comparisons because we do not know whether the Autism Health Check is an acceptable treatment that could be delivered within the NHS.

All recruitment for the trial is complete and the health checks have been delivered. We are now in the follow-up stage which will be complete in May 2025.

All those taking part were asked to complete some questionnaires when they joined the study and then at 3, 6 and 9 months later. These questionnaires ask for information about quality of life and use of health and social care services. Information about individual's health needs is also being accessed from primary care health records 9 months after starting the trial.