Changes in Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in 2001–2011: Findings from the Stockholm Youth Cohort

Abstract

In a record-linkage study in Stockholm, Sweden, the year 2011 prevalence of diagnosed autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was found to be 0.40, 1.74, 2.46, and 1.76% among 0-5, 6-12, 13-17, and 18-27 year olds, respectively. The corresponding proportion of cases with a recorded diagnosis of intellectual disability was 17.4, 22.1, 26.1 and 29.4%. Between 2001 and 2011, ASD prevalence increased almost 3.5 fold among children aged 2-17 years. The increase was mainly accounted for by an eightfold increase of ASD without intellectual disability (from 0.14 to 1.10 %), while the prevalence of ASD with intellectual disability increased only slightly (from 0.28 to 0.34%). The increase in ASD prevalence is likely contributed to by extrinsic factors such as increased awareness and diagnostics.

Reporting of Cultural Factors in Autism Research Publications in Sweden: Application of the GAP-REACH Checklist

“…Disparities in access to diagnosis and interventions based on ethnicity continue to be a significant challenge (Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) 2014). For this reason, the findings reported by Idring et al (2015) and their discussion in the article can be viewed as an important step forward in raising researchers', practitioners', and general public's awareness on these issues.…”

“…Indeed, Bildt et al (2015) No Yes No (= not described) Domellöf et al (2014) No Yes No (= not described) Fernell et al (2015) Yes Yes The 1st cohort group: Bthe Stockholm Somali group^; the 2nd cohort group based in Gothenburg categorized as (a) Swedish, (b) miscellaneous (non-Scandinavian, South America, East Africa), (c) African/Middle East. Gardner et al (2015) Yes No Maternal country of birth categorized as (a) mother born in Sweden, (b) mother born outside Sweden Idring et al (2015) Yes No Maternal country of birth categorized as (a) mother born in Sweden, (b) mother born outside Sweden with low/high Human Development Index (HDI) Idring et al (2014) Yes Yes Maternal country of birth categorized as (a) mother born in Sweden, (b) mother born in Europe outside Sweden, (c) mother born outside Europe Lee et al (2015) Yes No Maternal country of birth categorized as (a) mother born in Sweden, (b) mother born in Europe outside Sweden, (c) mother born outside Europe Löfkvist et al (2014) Yes Yes Swedish language proficiency Lundström et al (2015b) Yes No No (= not described) McEvilly et al (2015) Yes No No (= not described) Selten et al (2015) Yes No Personal or parental history of migration Törn et al (2015) Yes No No (= not described) Zander et al (2015) Yes Yes Maternal country of origin a Coding based on the results reported by the first author/coder the Swedish Personal Data Act (PUL 1998) did not allow registering sensitive personal information such as race, ethnicity or other culture-related data such as religion. Therefore, the use of geographic area or country of origin as proxy for ethnicity by the researchers shown in this study justifies this approach.…”

“…The authors explicitly pointed out that certified interpreters assisted administration of these tools (item 10 in the GAP-REACH checklist: discussion of relevance of language characteristics of interviewers and participants). Furthermore, the study by Idring et al (2015) stands alone in addressing disparities in access to services and diagnosis for children with ASD (with or without intellectual disability) of immigrant background. Disparities in access to diagnosis and interventions based on ethnicity continue to be a significant challenge (Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) 2014).…”

Autism Spectrum Disorders and Communication Disorders: Influences of Advanced Parental Age and Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology

“…The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the USA has steadily increased in recent years, with current estimates of rates of diagnosis at one in every 68 children (CDC 2014(CDC , 2015Idring et al 2015). Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by varying severity of communication disorders (CD), both verbal and non-verbal, including, but not limited to, speech disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, and pragmatic difficulties (e.g., Anckarsater et al 2006).…”

“…Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by varying severity of communication disorders (CD), both verbal and non-verbal, including, but not limited to, speech disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, and pragmatic difficulties (e.g., Anckarsater et al 2006). Some attribute the increase in diagnoses of ASD, at least partly, to heightened awareness and diagnostic criteria (e.g., Idring et al 2015;Schieve et al 2012). The most current diagnostic criteria for ASD, as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5), indicates that non-verbal communication and integration of non-verbal and verbal communication are core components of the disorder (American Psychiatric Association 2013).…”