PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ewelina Rydzewska
AU  - Laura Anne Hughes-McCormack
AU  - Christopher Gillberg
AU  - Angela Henderson
AU  - Cecilia MacIntyre
AU  - Julie Rintoul
AU  - Sally-Ann Cooper
TI  - Age at identification, prevalence and general health of children with autism: observational study of a whole country population
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025904
DP  - 2019 Jul 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e025904
VI  - 9
IP  - 7
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/7/e025904.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/7/e025904.full
SO  - BMJ Open2019 Jul 01; 9
AB  - Objectives Reported childhood prevalence of autism varies considerably between studies and over time, and general health status has been little investigated. We aimed to investigate contemporary prevalence of reported autism by age, and general health status of children/young people with and without autism.Design Secondary analysis of Scotland’s Census, 2011 data. Cross-sectional study.Setting General population of Scotland.Participants All children (n=916 331) and young people (n=632 488) in Scotland.Main outcome measures Number (%) of children/young people reported to have autism and their general health status; prevalence of autism; prevalence of poor health (fair, bad and very bad health); odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of autism predicting poor health, adjusted for age and gender and OR for age and gender in predicting poor health within the population with reported autism.Results Autism was reported for 17 348/916 331 (1.9%) children aged 0–15, and 7715/632 488 (1.2%) young people aged 16–24. The rate increased to age 11 in boys and age 10 in girls, reflecting age at diagnosis. Prevalence was 2.8% at age 10 (4.4% for boys; 1.1% for girls), and 2.9% at age 11 (4.5% for boys; 1.1% for girls). 22.0% of children and 25.5% of young people with autism reported poor health, compared with 2.0% and 4.4% without autism. Autism had OR=11.3 (11.0 to 11.7) in predicting poor health. Autistic females had poorer health than autistic males, OR=1.6 (1.5 to 1.8).Conclusion Accurate information on the proportion of autistic children and their health status is essential plan appropriate prevention and intervention measures and provide resources for those who may put demand on services designed for autistic people.