Dataset Information

Prevalence and incidence rates of autism in the UK: time trend from 2004-2010 in children aged 8 years.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To update UK studies begun in the early 1990s on the annual prevalence and incidence rates of autism in children; undertaken in response to a March 2012 press release, widely covered by the media, from the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) reporting that the autism prevalence rate in 2008 in 8-year-old US children was 1 in 88, a 78% increase from a CDC estimate in 2004. This finding suggested a continuation of the dramatic increase in children diagnosed as autistic, which occurred in the 1990s.

Design

Population study using the UK General Practice Research Database (GPRD).

Methods

Annual autism prevalence rates were estimated for children aged 8 years in 2004-2010 by dividing the number diagnosed as autistic in each or any previous year by the number of children active in the study population that year. We also calculated annual incidence rates for children aged 2-8 years, by dividing the number newly diagnosed in 2004-2010 by the same denominators.

Results

Annual prevalence rates for each year were steady at approximately 3.8/1000 boys and 0.8/1000 girls. Annual incidence rates each year were also steady at about 1.2/1000 boys and 0.2/1000 girls.

Conclusions

Following a fivefold increase in the annual incidence rates of autism during the 1990s in the UK, the incidence and prevalence rates in 8-year-old children reached a plateau in the early 2000s and remained steady through 2010. Whether prevalence rates have increased from the early 2000s in the USA remains uncertain.

SUBMITTER: Taylor B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3808754 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Prevalence and incidence rates of autism in the UK: time trend from 2004-2010 in children aged 8 years.

Taylor Brent B Jick Hershel H Maclaughlin Dean D

BMJ open 20131016 10

<h4>Objectives</h4>To update UK studies begun in the early 1990s on the annual prevalence and incidence rates of autism in children; undertaken in response to a March 2012 press release, widely covered by the media, from the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) reporting that the autism prevalence rate in 2008 in 8-year-old US children was 1 in 88, a 78% increase from a CDC estimate in 2004. This finding suggested a continuation of the dramatic increase in children diagnosed as autistic, which oc ...[more]

PMID: 24131525

Similar Datasets

Project description:PROBLEM/CONDITION:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). PERIOD COVERED:2016. DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM:The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network is an active surveillance program that provides estimates of the prevalence of ASD among children aged 8 years whose parents or guardians live in 11 ADDM Network sites in the United States (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin). Surveillance is conducted in two phases. The first phase involves review and abstraction of comprehensive evaluations that were completed by medical and educational service providers in the community. In the second phase, experienced clinicians who systematically review all abstracted information determine ASD case status. The case definition is based on ASD criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. RESULTS:For 2016, across all 11 sites, ASD prevalence was 18.5 per 1,000 (one in 54) children aged 8 years, and ASD was 4.3 times as prevalent among boys as among girls. ASD prevalence varied by site, ranging from 13.1 (Colorado) to 31.4 (New Jersey). Prevalence estimates were approximately identical for non-Hispanic white (white), non-Hispanic black (black), and Asian/Pacific Islander children (18.5, 18.3, and 17.9, respectively) but lower for Hispanic children (15.4). Among children with ASD for whom data on intellectual or cognitive functioning were available, 33% were classified as having intellectual disability (intelligence quotient [IQ] ?70); this percentage was higher among girls than boys (39% versus 32%) and among black and Hispanic than white children (47%, 36%, and 27%, respectively) [corrected]. Black children with ASD were less likely to have a first evaluation by age 36 months than were white children with ASD (40% versus 45%). The overall median age at earliest known ASD diagnosis (51 months) was similar by sex and racial and ethnic groups; however, black children with IQ ?70 had a later median age at ASD diagnosis than white children with IQ ?70 (48 months versus 42 months). INTERPRETATION:The prevalence of ASD varied considerably across sites and was higher than previous estimates since 2014. Although no overall difference in ASD prevalence between black and white children aged 8 years was observed, the disparities for black children persisted in early evaluation and diagnosis of ASD. Hispanic children also continue to be identified as having ASD less frequently than white or black children. PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION:These findings highlight the variability in the evaluation and detection of ASD across communities and between sociodemographic groups. Continued efforts are needed for early and equitable identification of ASD and timely enrollment in services.

Dataset Information

Prevalence and incidence rates of autism in the UK: time trend from 2004-2010 in children aged 8 years.

Objectives

Design

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Prevalence and incidence rates of autism in the UK: time trend from 2004-2010 in children aged 8 years.

Similar Datasets

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