ESCAPE Kits for Elopement Prevention in Children With Autism

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child Safety; Caregiver Stress

• Registration Number: NCT07225907
• Lead Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina

Brief Summary

This study will evaluate elopement prevention kits for children with autism spectrum disorder who exhibit elopement behavior such as dashing or wandering away from safe settings. Caregivers will be asked to rate how useful individual kit items are at reducing elopement, and to provide feedback about how ESCAPE kits affect their stress levels and ability to engage meaningfully in community settings. This study will also investigate how useful kit items are for various age groups in childhood and adolescence. Information will be used to guide development of a larger elopement prevention program.

Detailed Description

open-label feasibility study evaluates the ESCAPE elopement prevention kits for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Kits include safety tools and visual aids intended to reduce elopement behavior. Caregivers assess the usefulness of each item and report on continued use, stress levels, and perceived impact on elopement behavior. Data will inform future large-scale studies.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2021-06-01
• Primary Completion: 2022-01-04
• Study Completion: 2022-01-04
• Status Verified: 2025-11
• Study First Submitted: 2025-11-04
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-11-06
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-11-06
• Study First Posted: 2025-11-10
• Last Update Posted: 2025-11-10

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 65

Inclusion Criteria

• Caregivers of children ages 4-11 years old with a formal diagnosis of ASD (per caregiver report) who have contacted the study team expressing concerns regarding elopement behavior.

Exclusion Criteria

• Participant doesn't live with the child.
• Only one child under the participant's care can receive the kit.
• Participant doesn't confirm their name, mailing address, and preferred email for kit delivery and post-intervention survey reception.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Kit Items Still in Use at 3 Months	3 months after kit reception	Count of individual ESCAPE kit items still actively used by caregivers, reported via REDCap survey.
Caregiver-Rated Usefulness of Individual Kit Items	3 months after kit reception	Caregiver ratings of each ESCAPE kit item using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not Useful to 5 = Extremely Useful), collected via REDCap survey 3 months post-kit distribution

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Caregiver Perception of Kit Impact	3 months after kit reception	Caregiver report of impact of kit on the child's elopement, caregiver's personal stress related to child's elopement behavior, and financial burden in having received kit items at no cost to them.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Medical University of South Carolina; 🇺🇸 Charleston, South Carolina, United States