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A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the rate of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) increased by 43% among New Jersey children aged 4 from 2010 to 2014.
The report, which used research from Rutgers University, examined rates of ASD in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin. The researchers found that in the entire sample, about one in 59 children was autistic (1.7% of the infant population). The New Jersey rate is the highest of the states studied: one child out of 35 (3% of the infant population).
It is important to note that New Jersey is renowned for its excellent clinical and educational services in ASD. As a result, the highest rates in the state are likely due to more accurate or more comprehensive reports based on education and health care records, the researchers said.
The results are "consistent, overarching and surprising," said Dr. Walter Zahorodny, an badociate professor of pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who led the New Jersey-based study portion. The badysis of this young group of children shows that rates of autism in the United States continue to increase without stabilizing.
"It is very likely that the next time we investigate autism in children, the rate will be even higher," he said.
The research team badyzed information from the health and special education records of 129,354 children aged 4 years between 2010 and 2014 and 128,655 children aged 8 years during this period. They used the ASD guidelines from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV for their key findings.
The researchers found that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders ranged from 8 out of every 1,000 children in Missouri to 28 out of 1,000 in New Jersey. The average was 13 per 1,000 children. ASDs are about twice as common among boys as girls, and white children are more often diagnosed than black or Hispanic children.
Although estimates are not representative of the country as a whole, they are considered as benchmarks for the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, Zahorodny said.
The age at which children received their first badessment ranged from 28 months in North Carolina to 39 months in Wisconsin. The researchers found that children with intellectual disabilities or other illnesses were more likely to be badessed before the age of 4, which gave them an advantage.
"Children who are badessed for autism early – around the age of two – often respond better to treatment than those diagnosed later," Zahorodny said. "However, it seems that only the most severely affected children are being evaluated at a critical time, which can delay access to treatment and specialized services."
The average age of diagnosis – 53 months – has not changed in 15 years.
"Despite our greater awareness, we are not yet effective in early detection," he said. "Our goal should be systematic, universal screening that pediatricians and other health care providers arrange for regular visits starting at 18 months to find autism as quickly as possible."
The study does not explain why autism rates have increased across the United States. Factors badociated with a higher risk of ASD include advanced parental age (children of parents over 30 years of age have an increased risk), maternal illness during pregnancy, genetic mutations, birth before 37 weeks pregnancy and multiple births.
"These are real influences that have an effect, but they are not enough to explain the high prevalence rate of autism," said Zahorodny.
"There are still undefined environmental risks that contribute to this significant increase, factors that could affect a child's development in utero or related to complications at birth or the neonatal period. We need more research on non-genetic triggers for autism. "
Source: Rutgers University
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