The researchers used a new approach to estimate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in young people of other ages at 11 sites in 2018. La rate of one in 44 among 8-year-olds is the highest estimate to date through the CDC-Autism and the Developmental Disorders Surveillance Network (ADDM) since its inception in 2000.
The study, in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, studied data from 220,281 children, adding 5,058 8-year-olds with ASD in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
Children with ASD outperformed women had 4. 2 to 1, and differences in prevalence and mean age of ASD diagnosis were evident from site to site. Prevalence ranged from 1. 6% (Missouri) to 3. 9% (California); The median age of diagnosis ranged from 36 months (California) to 63 months (Minnesota). The prevalence of ASD varies by race/ethnicity and wealth. New Jersey’s autism rate (2. 8%) was above the network average (2. 3%) and higher than New Jersey’s 2016 estimate, the CDC’s new method (2. 3%).
“The 2018 ADDM autism estimates are based on a new method of case-finding. The overall ADDM numbers are minimum estimates,” said co-author Walter Zahorodny, an associate professor of pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “The revised ADDM method is faster but less comprehensive and is likely to underestimate the actual number of true cases and may miss children from underserved communities. If autism already affects 4 to 7 percent of 8-year-old children in many New Jersey areas, as shown in our recent study, and 4 percent in California according to the new ADDM findings, understanding the factors driving the rise in ASD prevalence should be a public health priority.”
New Jersey is known for its adequate clinical and school level for ASD, so the state’s higher rates are likely due to more accurate or comprehensive reporting based on education and physical care records, the researchers said.
“The new findings show that the prevalence of autism has not reached a plateau,” said Josephine Shenouda, co-investigator and project coordinator from New Jersey, chief of studies studies at Rutgers New Jersey School of Medicine. “We don’t see that many differences in prevalence across race already. Black and Hispanic youth have the same prevalence of ASD as white youth in several states, and many ADDM sites show that the prevalence of autism is no longer higher among youth in wealthy communities. “
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