Prevalence of Co-occurring Medical and Behavioral Conditions/Symptoms Among 4- and 8-Year-Old Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Selected Areas of the United States in 2010

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 48; no. 8; pp. 2663 - 2676
• Main Authors: Soke, G. N., Maenner, M. J., Christensen, D., Kurzius-Spencer, M., Schieve, L. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age Differences; Analysis; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Autistic children; Behavior Problems; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Behavioral Symptoms - epidemiology; Behavioral Symptoms - psychology; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Clinical Diagnosis; Comorbidity; Comparative Analysis; Developmental disabilities; Developmental Disabilities - epidemiology; Developmental Disabilities - psychology; Female; Health; Health aspects; Humans; Incidence; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medical screening; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; Psychology; Public Health; Records (Forms); Screening Tests; Signs and symptoms; Sociodemographics; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); United States - epidemiology; United States; Autism; Prevalence; Comorbid conditions; Co-occurring conditions; Autism spectrum disorder
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3521-1
• ISSN: 0162-3257

We compared the prevalence of various medical and behavioral co-occurring conditions/symptoms between 4- and 8-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from five sites in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network during the 2010 survey year, accounting for sociodemographic differences. Over 95% of children had at least one co-occurring condition/symptom. Overall, the prevalence was higher in 8- than 4-year-olds for 67% of co-occurring conditions/symptoms examined. Further, our data suggested that co-occurring conditions/symptoms increased or decreased the age at which children were first evaluated for ASD. Similarly, among the 8-year-olds, the prevalence of most co-occurring conditions/symptoms was higher in children with a previous ASD diagnosis documented in their records. These findings are informative for understanding and screening co-occurring conditions/symptoms in ASD.