Media Advisory

CDC and HRSA issue report on changes in prevalence of parent-reported Autism Spectrum Disorder in school-aged children

Who

CDC's National Center for Health Statistics and the Health Resources and Services Administration

What

"Changes in Prevalence of Parent-Reported Autism Spectrum Disorder in School-Aged Children: 2007 to 2011-2012."

The report was co-authored by HRSA and data collection was conducted by the CDC.  The data come from the National Survey of Children’s Health, a nationally representative phone survey of households with children. This survey is conducted every four years.

Main findings of the report:

• The prevalence of parent-reported ASD among children aged 6-17 years was 2 percent in 2011-2012 compared to 1.2 percent in 2007.
• The change in prevalence estimates was greatest for boys and for adolescents aged 14 to 17 years.
• Children who were first diagnosed in or after 2008 were more likely to have milder ASD than those diagnosed in or before 2007.
• Much of the increase in the prevalence estimates from 2007 to 2011-2012 for school-aged children was the result of diagnoses of children with previously unrecognized ASD.

The report is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.

For information about HRSA’s autism efforts visit http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/autism/index.html.

For information about CDC’s autism efforts visit http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html.

 

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES