S. Korea study indicates higher rate of autism than estimated
Source: Agencies |
May 10, 2011, Tuesday
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A STUDY in South Korea suggests about 1 in 38 children have traits of autism, higher than a previous US estimate of 1 in 100.
By casting a wider net and looking closely at mainstream children, the researchers expected to find a higher rate of autism characteristics. But they were surprised at how high the rate was. They don't think South Korea has more children with autism than the United States, but instead that autism often goes undiagnosed in many nations. US estimates are based on education and medical records, not the more time-consuming survey conducted in South Korea.
Two-thirds of the children with autism traits in the study were in the mainstream school population, hadn't been diagnosed before and weren't getting any special services. Many of those undiagnosed children likely have mild social impairments, rather than more severe autism.
"It doesn't mean all of a sudden there are more new children with (autism spectrum disorders)," said co-author Dr Young-Shin Kim of the Yale Child Study Center. "They have been there all along, but were not counted in previous prevalence studies."
It's not clear whether the children need special services, other experts said.
"I'm sure some of these children probably could benefit from intervention, but I don't think we could make a statement that all would benefit from intervention," said Dr Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's developmental disabilities branch.
The CDC wasn't involved in the new study, although another federal agency, the National Institute of Mental Health, provided some funding. The group, Autism Speaks, which advocates more aggressive autism screening, also helped pay for the study but had no role in its design.
The research, published yesterday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, attempted to screen all 55,000 schoolchildren, aged 7 to 12, in a district of Goyang City, near Seoul.
However, only about two-thirds of mainstream children participated. About 63 percent of their parents filled out a survey. The researchers said parents of affected children might be more likely to fill out the survey.
The questionnaire used is a recognized screening tool for high-functioning autism such as Asperger's syndrome. It asks such questions as whether the child "stands out as different" in a number of ways, including lacking empathy, lacking best friends and being bullied by other children.
From there, some of the children who screened positive were tested further. Few of the children completed the entire diagnosis process. But the researchers say they still were able to use the findings to estimate that about 2.6 percent of the population had some autism traits - compared to the US estimate of 1 percent.
The study took five years to complete. The US government's approach is quicker and allows more ongoing results, Yeargin-Allsopp said.
"Community providers, researchers and others are interested in prevalence of autism on a frequent basis," Yeargin-Allsopp said. "This is not possible if you're doing a screening of an entire population" as was attempted by the South Korean researchers.
By casting a wider net and looking closely at mainstream children, the researchers expected to find a higher rate of autism characteristics. But they were surprised at how high the rate was. They don't think South Korea has more children with autism than the United States, but instead that autism often goes undiagnosed in many nations. US estimates are based on education and medical records, not the more time-consuming survey conducted in South Korea.
Two-thirds of the children with autism traits in the study were in the mainstream school population, hadn't been diagnosed before and weren't getting any special services. Many of those undiagnosed children likely have mild social impairments, rather than more severe autism.
"It doesn't mean all of a sudden there are more new children with (autism spectrum disorders)," said co-author Dr Young-Shin Kim of the Yale Child Study Center. "They have been there all along, but were not counted in previous prevalence studies."
It's not clear whether the children need special services, other experts said.
"I'm sure some of these children probably could benefit from intervention, but I don't think we could make a statement that all would benefit from intervention," said Dr Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's developmental disabilities branch.
The CDC wasn't involved in the new study, although another federal agency, the National Institute of Mental Health, provided some funding. The group, Autism Speaks, which advocates more aggressive autism screening, also helped pay for the study but had no role in its design.
The research, published yesterday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, attempted to screen all 55,000 schoolchildren, aged 7 to 12, in a district of Goyang City, near Seoul.
However, only about two-thirds of mainstream children participated. About 63 percent of their parents filled out a survey. The researchers said parents of affected children might be more likely to fill out the survey.
The questionnaire used is a recognized screening tool for high-functioning autism such as Asperger's syndrome. It asks such questions as whether the child "stands out as different" in a number of ways, including lacking empathy, lacking best friends and being bullied by other children.
From there, some of the children who screened positive were tested further. Few of the children completed the entire diagnosis process. But the researchers say they still were able to use the findings to estimate that about 2.6 percent of the population had some autism traits - compared to the US estimate of 1 percent.
The study took five years to complete. The US government's approach is quicker and allows more ongoing results, Yeargin-Allsopp said.
"Community providers, researchers and others are interested in prevalence of autism on a frequent basis," Yeargin-Allsopp said. "This is not possible if you're doing a screening of an entire population" as was attempted by the South Korean researchers.
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