US Autism Diagnoses Rose 175% From 2011 to 2022

TOPLINE:

US diagnosis rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increased by 175% from 2011 to 2022, a new study shows. Prevalence was highest in children aged 5-8 years, but the greatest relative increases were reported in young adults, women, and children in multiple racial and ethnic groups.

METHODOLOGY:

• In this cross-sectional study, researchers examined annual diagnosis rates of ASD from 2011 to 2022 using more than 1.2 million electronic health records across 12 US health systems from the Mental Health Research Network.

• Participants were included if they were enrolled in a participating health system for at least 10 months of the year.

• Diagnoses of ASD were identified using International Classification of Diseases (Ninth and 10th Revision) codes.

• Sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were included, and data were stratified by participants' age, sex, race, and ethnicity.

TAKEAWAY:

• A total of 77,683 participants had ASD. The overall diagnosis rate of ASD increased by 175% from 2011 to 2022.

• The rate was highest among 5- to 8-year-olds (30.3 per 1000 individuals), with the greatest relative increase in diagnosis rates observed among 26- to 34-year-olds (452%).

• Diagnosis rates were higher in women than in men, both for children (305% increase vs 185% increase) and adults (315% increase vs 215% increase).

• Relative increases in prevalence were highest among Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic children compared with White children.

IN PRACTICE:

"These findings forecast a substantial number of autistic people aging into adult care and can be used both to inform interventions for addressing disparities and to efficiently allocate resources to meet the support needs of autistic people across the lifespan," the authors wrote.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was limited by the high rates of missing or unknown data for race and ethnicity, which could have affected the accuracy of diagnosis rates. The findings may not be generalizable to individuals without insurance coverage or those seeking ASD-related services outside integrated health systems.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. One author reported receiving grants from SAGE Therapeutics outside the submitted work.

Note: This article originally appeared on Medscape.