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Prevalence of disorders of the autism spectrum in a population cohort of children in South Thames: the Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP)
Author(s) -
Reading Richard
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00706_3.x
Subject(s) - autism , cohort , medicine , population , pediatrics , autism spectrum disorder , prevalence , intelligence quotient , medical diagnosis , cohort study , psychiatry , environmental health , pathology , cognition
Prevalence of disorders of the autism spectrum in a population cohort of children in South Thames: the Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP).
Baird G. , Simonoff E. , Pickles A. , Chandler S. , Loucas T. , Meldrum D. & Charman T.(2006)The Lancet,368,210–215.Background Recent reports have suggested that the prevalence of autism and related spectrum disorders (ASDs) is substantially higher than previously recognized. We sought to quantify prevalence of ASDs in children in South Thames, UK. Methods Within a total population cohort of 56 946 children aged 9–10 years old, we screened all those with a current clinical diagnosis of ASD ( n = 255) or those judged to be at risk for being an undetected case ( n = 1515). A stratified subsample ( n = 255) received a comprehensive diagnostic assessment, including standardized clinical observation, and parent interview assessments of autistic symptoms, language and intelligence quotient (IQ). Clinical consensus diagnoses of childhood autism and other ASDs were derived. We used a sample‐weighting procedure to estimate prevalence. Findings The prevalence of childhood autism was 38.9 per 10 000 (95% CI 29.9–47.8) and that of other ASDs was 77.2 per 10 000 (52.1–102.3), making the total prevalence of all ASDs 116.1 per 10 000 (90.4–141.8). A narrower definition of childhood autism, which combined clinical consensus with instrument criteria for past and current presentation, provided a prevalence of 24.8 per 10 000 (17.6–32.0). The rate of previous local identification was lowest for children of less‐educated parents. Interpretation Prevalence of autism and related ASDs is substantially greater than previously recognized. Whether the increase is due to better ascertainment, broadening diagnostic criteria, or increased incidence is unclear. Services in health, education and social care will need to recognize the needs of children with some form of ASD, who constitute 1% of the child population.