Autism in the Faroe Islands. An Epidemiological Study

Abstract

The Faroe Islands are considered to be a genetic isolate. This population study of the prevalence of autism sought to identify a representative cohort for future genetic studies. In 2002 all schools were screened for autism spectrum disorders. The target population were all children born in 1985 through 1994 and living in the Faroe Islands on December 31, 2002. Children who screened positive for autism characteristics were examined using the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO). Of the children aged 8 through 17 years, 0.56% had childhood autism, Asperger syndrome or atypical autism. The male:female ratio was just under 6:1. The prevalence of autism in the Faroe Islands was very similar to that reported from many western countries.

Autism spectrum traits in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

“…It is clear, that the prevalence of ASD, including Asperger's syndrome is substantially higher than that of the general child and adolescent populations whether Nordic (Ehlers & Gillberg, 1993;Ellefsen et al, 2006) or international (Baird et al, 2006;Fombonne, 2005) (for a review, see (Williams et al, 2006). A difficult question is whether our data might indicate a higher overall prevalence of ASD in Sweden, and that consequently, our data merely mirror this elevated prevalence.…”

Language problems at 2½-years of age and their relationship with school-age language impairment and neuropsychiatric disorders

“…However, these children are also often initially referred for examination because of delayed language development (Dahlgren & Gillberg, 1989). Autism is a rare disorder with prevalence rates of 0.2-0.4 % (for review see Fombonne, 2003), but there is new evidence for rates of 0.6% (Baird, Simonoff, Pickles, Chandler, Loucas, Meldrum & Charman, 2006, Ellefsen, Kampmann, Billstedt, Gillberg & Gillberg, 2006. The prevalence of the whole autism spectrum is around 1% (Wing & Potter, 2002, Baird et al, 2006.…”

Cross Cultural Variation in the Neurodevelopmental Assessment of Children – The Cultural and Neurological to 2nd Language Acquisition and Children with Autism

“…Additionally, maternal depression before and during the presentation of the child's autistic difficulties was found to inhibit ASD diagnosis (16). Given the increased incidence of autism on an international level (Autism Society, 2010), (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23), determining the prevalence of ASD outside of the US is problematic. There is a report from the EAIS that looks at Prevalence Data and Accessibility to Service in European Countries.…”