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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010626/hl/autism_1.html
Autism May Be More Common Than Once Thought: Study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While there have been
conflicting reports on
whether autism rates are on the rise, a new UK study
indicates that
pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) like autism and
Asperger syndrome
are more common than previously believed.
“PDD is not as rare as once thought. Thirty years ago, we
had a narrow view
of autism, and we estimated the rate to be four or five
children out of every 10,000 children,” lead researcher Dr. Eric Frombonne of
King’s College in London told Reuters Health.
However, Frombonne’s team found in a study of children in
Staffordshire,
England, that the rate of autism was about 17 children for
every 10,000--or
about four times higher than previous estimates. The
findings are published
in the June 27th issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association
(news - web sites).
“With a better understanding of the disorder, and
especially the fact that
there is a spectrum of problems with somewhat milder
forms, the rates are
much higher,” Frombonne explained.
With PDDs like autism or Asperger syndrome, Frombonne
points out, there are
a range of developmental impairments that occur in
communication and
language. For instance, children may be significantly
delayed in speaking or
mute with no “compensatory gestures.” Others may have “odd
ways” of
speaking such as talking “at” people rather than to them,
Frombonne noted.
Children may also have problems with social interaction,
showing little interest in others, failing to make eye contact or displaying
little emotional response to interactions.
In their study, Frombonne and colleague Dr. Suniti
Chakrabarti evaluated
15,500 children between the ages of 2.5 to 6.5 years. They
estimated the
prevalence of PDDs overall to be 63 children for every
10,000.
Specifically, they put the autism prevalence at nearly 17
children for every
10,000. The prevalence for other PDDs was about 46 per
10,000 children.
Ultimately, the researchers say, these findings may have
implications for
the screening and diagnosis of PDDs.
“We have evidence that early intervention improves the
outcome, and as our
study shows that PDD can be reliably screened and
diagnosed at an early age,
the findings suggest that intensive screening programs for
PDD in preschoolers should be established,” Frombonne told Reuters Health.
As for why his team found PDDs to be more common than
previous estimates,
Frombonne said that “we used a case definition which is
broad enough to
capture all the presentations of PDD along the spectrum.”
“Second,” he added, “we used intensive case finding
techniques and were
proactive to identify cases in the community at an early
age. Third, we used
modern diagnostic assessment tools.”
Frombonne also noted that his findings concur with those
of a recent Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites)
study in Brick Township, New Jersey.
“Chakrabarti and Frombonne have corroborated that PDDs are
not rare among
preschool children,” Dr. Susan L. Hyman and colleagues at
the University of
Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York
write in an accompanying editorial.
“Given the limitations of current knowledge,” they add, “valuable
data
sets such as these should be used to increase
understanding of the characteristics of young children with PDDs as well as to
determine the current prevalence.”
SOURCE: Journal of the American Association
2001;285:3093-3099,3141,3142.
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