ASDs are developmental disabilities with social interaction impairments and repetitive and restricted behavioral patterns, activities, or interests that may result in communication difficulties and may affect routine activity performance.
In the previous 20 years, the prevalence of ASD among eight-year-olds elevated markedly, especially among Whites, and those with greater socioeconomic status, varying over the subsequent years.
The autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network system performs active ASD surveillance to provide ASD prevalence estimates for eight-year-olds residing across 11 US sites, including Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, California, Minnesota, Maryland, New Jersey, Missouri, Utah, Wisconsin, and Tennessee.
Pediatric ASD patients include those with documented ASD diagnosis in evaluations, those receiving special education including ASD classification, or those with the international classification of diseases, ninth revision , or ICD-10 codes for ASD.
ASD surveillance data for Minnesota, California, and Arizona included sub-county-level school districts, with prevalence adjustments, based on the national center for education statistics public school enrollment and the American community survey tract-level five-to-nine-year-old individuals’ estimates described in previous reports.
Census tract-level median household income was ≤70.
Out of 6,245 pediatric individuals meeting ASD case definitions, 75% had ASD diagnostic statements, 65% had received ASD special-type education, 72% had ICD codes for ASD, and 37% had the three indicators of ASD.
The prevalence rates were more significant than those estimated for the period between 2000 and 2018, and among eight-year-olds, ASD prevalence was lower for Whites than for other races.
The continual rise in ASD prevalence among eight-year-olds, especially for non-Whites, and females, indicates that investments and improvements in healthcare infrastructure are required for early diagnosis and prompt treatment of pediatric ASD patients across the United States.
Prevalence and Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2020.
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