Prevalence and Interpretation of Recent Trends in Rates of Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Abstract

The aims of this article are to provide an up-to-date review of the methodological features and substantive results of published epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). This article updates previous reviews (1, 2) with the inclusion of new studies made available since then. The specific questions addressed inthis article are: a) how are cases of PDD defined and identified in epidemiological surveys?; b) what are the best estimates for the prevalence of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders considering the methodological implications of the surveys, and c) what interpretation can be given to time trends observed in prevalence rates of PDDs given the hypothesized secular increase in PDDs?

How Do Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Participate in the Labor Market? A German Multi-center Survey

“…The proportion of male and female participants in our study is consistent with the previously reported male/female ratio in ASD (Fombonne et al, 2009 ). However, it has become a matter of debate whether females are underdiagnosed and whether diagnostic instruments are sufficient to detect the postulated female autism phenotype that seems to differ from a male autism phenotype (Lai & Szatmari, 2020 ).…”

Proteomics and Metabolomics Approaches towards a Functional Insight onto AUTISM Spectrum Disorders: Phenotype Stratification and Biomarker Discovery

“…Comorbidity with intellectual disabilities, impaired motor coordination and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are also often present [3,4]. An incidence of ASD of 1 in every 60 subjects is estimated in the United States, with a fourfold frequency for males with respect to females [5][6][7]. Clinical manifestations typically occur in the 2nd-3rd year of life, usually persist in adulthood, and influence various aspects of mental development [8].…”

PROTOCOL: Language interventions for improving oral language outcomes in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: A systematic review

“…The broad spectrum encompasses disorders previously labelled as childhood autism/autistic disorder, highfunctioning autism, atypical autism, Asperger's disorder and pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder not otherwise specified. Some epidemiological studies report a worldwide prevalence of approximately 50 to 70 per 10,000 (Elsabbagh et al, 2012;Fombonne, Quirke, & Hagen, 2009) for the broader definition of the autism spectrum. In some parts of the UK and the US, the prevalence has been reported to be more than 100 per 10,000 (Baird et al, 2006;Kogan et al, 2009) and as high as 157 per 10,000 children when statistically controlling for unknown cases (Baron- Cohen et al, 2009;Fombonne, 2009).…”

“…Some epidemiological studies report a worldwide prevalence of approximately 50 to 70 per 10,000 (Elsabbagh et al, ; Fombonne, Quirke, & Hagen, ) for the broader definition of the autism spectrum. In some parts of the UK and the US, the prevalence has been reported to be more than 100 per 10,000 (Baird et al, ; Kogan et al, ) and as high as 157 per 10,000 children when statistically controlling for unknown cases (Baron‐Cohen et al, ; Fombonne, ).…”