BALTIMORE, May 9, 2006 (UPI) -- Some U.S. pediatricians are not screening their patients regularly for autism and autism-related disorders, Johns Hopkins scientists in Maryland reported.

In addition, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Bloomberg School of Public Health say most pediatricians they surveyed know too little about screening tools.

Of the 255 primary care pediatricians in Maryland and Delaware participating in the study, 209, or 82 percent, said they regularly screen their patients for general developmental delays, but only 20 of the 255 said they do so for related disorders. Of those not screening routinely for similar maladies, nearly 62 percent said they failed to do so because they aren't familiar with screening tools.

"Lack of familiarity with ... screening tools appears to be the single greatest barrier to routine screening," said Susan dosReis of the Johns Hopkins Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department and lead author of the paper.

The findings suggest some screening remains largely opportunistic rather than systematic, researchers said. But they caution their findings -- appearing in a May 11 supplement of the April issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics -- cannot be generalized, since screening practices might vary by geographic area.

Copyright 2006 United Press International