Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a large Italian catchment area: a school-based population study within the ASDEU project

Narzisi, Antonio; Posada, Manuel; Barbieri, Filippo; Chericoni, Natasha; Ciuffolini, D.; Pinzino, Martina; Romanò, Roberta; Scattoni, María Luisa; Tancredi, Raffaella; Calderoni, Sara; Muratori, Filippo

doi:10.1017/s2045796018000483

Cited by 132 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…In terms of caries severity, the average DMFT/dmft score for our sample (2.91) is substantially smaller than the one obtained in comparable studies conducted in Africa [24,27] (where average values of DMFT/dmft of 4.79 and 7.23 have been found), slightly smaller than the one reported in a similar study in Turkey [36] and slightly larger than those obtained in studies on autism in Asian populations [20,21,[36][37][38] (for which an average value between 2.01 and 2.4 has been reported). We found that both caries prevalence and caries severity have a statistically significant association with the type of diet and the periodontal indices PI and GI of the autistic patient but, contrary to the findings of similar studies [12,[36][37][38], a not statistically significant association with age and gender was found. No statistical association between autism severity (as measured by the Frankl scale rating) was found.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

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Oral Health Status of Children with Autism in Central Italy

et al. 2020

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Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have significantly higher prevalence and caries severity compared to the average population. Knowledge about the oral health indices of children with this mental disorder is key to designing efficient plans of intervention. This paper reports the results of a study on the oral health status of children with ASD in central Italy. This is the first study of this type in Italy. The sample consists of 229 autistic children aged between 5 and 14 years, attending the Unit of Special Needs Policlinico Umberto I in Rome. Each patient received an intraoral examination to investigate decayed, missing, and filled teeth as well as periodontal status. Information on demographic attributes, dietary habits, medical history, and child’s cooperativeness at the first visit was also recorded. Of the participants, 79.26% presented signs of gingivitis and about 90% of them had plaque. Caries prevalence was 66.38%. The average of the total number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth in the permanent and primary dentition was 2.91. Among the factors considered, only dietary habits and the periodontal indices showed statistically significant association with caries prevalence and caries severity. Despite the selection bias, that prevents us to interpret the results presented as epidemiological evidence, our study suggests that children with ASD in central Italy represent a population at risk.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…As far as Italy is concerned, prevalence rates estimated from local surveys on patients attended to by the National Health System (NHS) in Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte, and Toscana regions range from 15/10,000 to 80/10,000 [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oral Health Status of Children with Autism in Central Italy

et al. 2020

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“…As for ASD, current available prevalence estimates in Italy originate from local sources, namely two regional administrative registers and one single population-based study, performed in one Italian province (Pisa, ASDEU 2016, age 7-9 years, 11.5/1000; Narzisi et al 2018). Lacking an Italian national estimate of ASD prevalence, hardly we can assess the exact number of children and adolescents with ASD in need of services, which represents a limitation of the present study for the evaluation of CAMHs capacity to manage ASD patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nationwide Survey of Healthcare Services for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Italy

Borgi

Ambrosio

Cordella

et al. 2019

Adv Neurodev Disord

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Objectives ASD is a lifelong multifaceted condition with considerable impact and costs to the single patients, their family and wider society, hence emphasizing the need of tailoring services for ASD subjects and their families. In Italy, recent efforts have been made to harmonize and promote the appropriateness of interventions for ASD people. At present, scattered information on services for people with ASD is available. The aim of this study was to survey the presence and distribution of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHs) in Italy, devoting a specific focus on their capacity to provide care to ASD patients. Methods CAMHs based on local health services, public and university hospitals, and care/research institutions, as well as private (INHS-accredited) units were invited to participate to present investigation filling in a questionnaire assessing relevant dimensions for public health, namely overall structural capacity and ASD care processes. Results Heterogeneity of the results among geographical macro-areas in CAMHs provision was found. Specifically, for ASD care, diagnosis and intervention strategies resulted to be unevenly distributed across the Italian territory, and the level of service integration throughout transition into adulthood resulted to be low. Conclusions Results from this survey contribute to increase the knowledge on services provided in Italy to people with ASD, and suggest potential targets to improve ASD management. The final aim is to ensure that the conditions are in place to achieve the adequate capacity to respond to the needs of individuals affected and their families over time and across the whole country. Keywords Autism spectrum disorders. Child-adolescent mental health services. Systems of care. Italy Based on national and international estimate of prevalence (Elsabbagh et al. 2012; Narzisi et al. 2018), there are about 600,000 people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Italy, including about 100,000 under the age of 18 years. ASD is a lifelong condition with considerable impact and costs to the individuals, their family, and wider society (Howlin et al. 2013). Direct and indirect (e.g., individual and parental productivity loss), as well as lifetime social economic costs, have been associated with ASD (Buescher et al. 2014). Families of children with autism face higher levels of distress than those of children with other disabilities: psychological disorders are common in the caregivers and appear to be marked with high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (Lai et al. 2015; Picardi

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“…Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental conditions, affecting approximately 1% of children in Italy [1], and characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, along with the presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviors [2]. Eye tracking is a technique that is opening new avenues for quantitative, objective, simple, non-invasive evaluation of the visual patterns in young individuals with ASD [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more advanced form of social attention is joint attention (JA), which is the ability to coordinate visual attention with another individual to an object or event that emerges between 6 and 12 months of age in typical development [10]. Two types of JA are described in the literature: (1) Response to joint attention (RJA), which is the ability to follow the direction of other's gaze; and (2) initiating joint attention (IJA), which is the ability to use gaze to direct the attention of others towards a shared object or event of interest [11]. JA impairment is consistently reported as one of the earliest and specific signs of ASD that becomes apparent at the end of the first year of life [12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Attention to Faces and Objects Changes Over Time in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Preliminary Evidence from An Eye Tracking Study

et al. 2019

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Further understanding of the longitudinal changes in visual pattern of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is needed. We examined twelve 19 to 33-month-old toddlers at their first diagnosis (mean age: 25.1 months) and after six months (mean age: 31.7 months) during two initiating joint attention (IJA) tasks using eye tracking. Results were compared with the performance of age-matched typically developing (TD) toddlers evaluated at a single time-point. Autistic toddlers showed longitudinal changes in the visual sensory processing of the IJA tasks, approaching TD performance with an improvement in the ability to disengage and to explore the global space. Findings suggest the use of eye tracking technology as an objective, non-intrusive, adjunctive tool to measure outcomes in toddlers with ASD.

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Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a large Italian catchment area: a school-based population study within the ASDEU project

Cited by 132 publications

References 64 publications

Oral Health Status of Children with Autism in Central Italy

Oral Health Status of Children with Autism in Central Italy

Nationwide Survey of Healthcare Services for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Italy

How Attention to Faces and Objects Changes Over Time in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Preliminary Evidence from An Eye Tracking Study

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