ESCAPE Kits for Elopement Prevention in Children With Autism

Education and Safety for Children With Autism to Prevent Elopement (ESCAPE) Kits Study

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Caregiver Stress; Child Safety
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Elopement Prevention Kits

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 Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 65
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
      • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

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 Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: ESCAPE Kits Intervention; Family received elopement prevention kits at no cost to them

Behavioral: Elopement Prevention Kits; Kits included high locks / bolts on doors (Wideskall 3" gate door latch), door/window alarm (GE 45117 Wireless Alarm with Programmable Keypad), stop sign visual aid (reusable sticker from stickergenius.com), ID tag (SmartKidsID Child ID / Medical ID shoe tag), Bluetooth tracker (BzT patch), safety harness (Dr. Meter AntiLost Link), temporary tattoos (SafetyTat), an information sheet that includes a disclaimer that kit items should be used as intended by manufacturer, that caregivers should monitor the continued proper use of kit items, and that the use of kit items is not a substitute for proper adult supervision of the child. This sheet also included other commonly-recommended EPM such inclusion of elopement accommodations in the child's individualized education plan (if applicable), informing neighbors and/or local law enforcement about the child's elopement behavior, use of safety gates at home, use of temporary tattoos, social stories, and consideration for swimming lessons.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Kit Items Still in Use at 3 Months	Count of individual ESCAPE kit items still actively used by caregivers, reported via REDCap survey.	3 months after kit reception
Caregiver-Rated Usefulness of Individual Kit Items	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	3 months after kit reception

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Caregiver Perception of Kit Impact	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.	3 months after kit reception

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Silvia Pereira-Smith, MD, Medical University of South Carolina

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 4, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): January 4, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 4, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 6, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 10, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 6, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Elopement Behavior; Behavioral Safety Intervention
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Stress, Psychological; Behavior; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Caregiver Burden
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00108386

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No