Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in an Icelandic birth cohort.
Average rating
Cast your vote
You can rate an item by clicking the amount of stars they wish to award to this item.
When enough users have cast their vote on this item, the average rating will also be shown.
Star rating
Your vote was cast
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Authors
Saemundsen, EvaldMagnússon, Páll
Georgsdóttir, Ingibjörg
Egilsson, Erlendur
Rafnsson, Vilhjálmur
Issue Date
2013
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
BMJ Open 2013, 3 (6):Abstract
A steady increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been reported in studies based on different methods, requiring adjustment for participation and missing data. Recent studies with high ASD prevalence rates rarely report on co-occurring medical conditions. The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of clinically confirmed cases of ASD in Iceland and concomitant medical conditions.The cohort is based on a nationwide database on ASD among children born during 1994-1998.
A total of 267 children were diagnosed with ASD, 197 boys and 70 girls. Only clinically confirmed cases were included. All received physical and neurological examination, standardised diagnostic workup for ASD, as well as cognitive testing. ASD diagnosis was established by interdisciplinary teams. Information on medical conditions and chromosomal testing was obtained by record linkage with hospital registers.
Two tertiary institutions in Iceland. The population registry recorded 22 229 children in the birth cohort.
Prevalence of all ASD was 120.1/10 000 (95% CI 106.6 to 135.3), for boys 172.4/10 000 (95% CI 150.1 to 198.0) and for girls 64.8/10 000 (95% CI 51.3 to 81.8). Prevalence of all medical conditions was 17.2% (95% CI 13.2 to 22.2), including epilepsy of 7.1% (95% CI 4.6 to 10.8). The proportion of ASD cases with cognitive impairment (intellectual quotient <70) was 45.3%, but only 34.1% were diagnosed with intellectual disability (ID). Children diagnosed earlier or later did not differ on mean total score on a standardised interview for autism.
The number of clinically verified cases is larger than in previous studies, yielding a prevalence of ASD on a similar level as found in recent non-clinical studies. The prevalence of co-occurring medical conditions was high, considering the low proportion of ASD cases that also had ID. Earlier detection is clearly desirable in order to provide counselling and treatment.
Description
To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Additional Links
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002748http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3693420/
Rights
openAccessae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002748
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- Autism spectrum disorders in young children: effect of changes in diagnostic practices.
- Authors: Nassar N, Dixon G, Bourke J, Bower C, Glasson E, de Klerk N, Leonard H
- Issue date: 2009 Oct
- Risks for nonaffective psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder in young people with autism spectrum disorder: a population-based study.
- Authors: Selten JP, Lundberg M, Rai D, Magnusson C
- Issue date: 2015 May
- Sex differences in the evaluation and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders among children.
- Authors: Giarelli E, Wiggins LD, Rice CE, Levy SE, Kirby RS, Pinto-Martin J, Mandell D
- Issue date: 2010 Apr
- Autism and intellectual disability are differentially related to sociodemographic background at birth.
- Authors: Leonard H, Glasson E, Nassar N, Whitehouse A, Bebbington A, Bourke J, Jacoby P, Dixon G, Malacova E, Bower C, Stanley F
- Issue date: 2011 Mar 30
- Incontinence in children with autism spectrum disorder.
- Authors: von Gontard A, Pirrung M, Niemczyk J, Equit M
- Issue date: 2015 Oct