The 14 sites were located in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin (Arkansas, New Jersey, and Utah participated in 2008 only).
9, 10 Data in the ADDM Network are collected every other year. The ADDM Network monitored ASD prevalence among 644 883 8-year-old children who resided in 11 US surveillance sites during the 2006 surveillance year and 14 US sites during 2008. We used data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, an active, population-based surveillance system that implements a multisite, multiple-source, health and education record review methodology. 19– 30 We evaluated the potential effects that the revised criteria for diagnosing ASD could have on the population prevalence of ASD among 8-year-old children in a large multisite ASD surveillance system in the United States.Īutism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Case Ascertainment 18 Previous studies based on clinical or research samples have reported that a proportion of individuals who meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for ASD fail to meet the DSM-5 criteria. Some experts suggest the DSM-5 criteria require a higher threshold of symptoms. It will be difficult to differentiate changes in prevalence owing to the revised diagnostic criteria from other factors such as enhanced and more widespread screening or changes in risk factors for ASD. The newly revised ASD criteria 17 in the DSM-5 (published in 2013) presents challenges for monitoring ASD prevalence over time. 6– 16 Throughout this article, we refer to the estimates obtained from ASD prevalence studies as ASD prevalence. Population reports from developed countries show consistent, secular increases in ASD prevalence since the mid-1990s. 4, 5 Although the term ASD did not appear in the DSM-IV-TR, it is popularly used in place of PDD (inclusive of subtypes), which is how we use it here. The criteria described in the DSM-IV-TR published in 2000 were largely unchanged from those presented in the DSM-IV and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision. 3 Since the 1994 revision, population prevalence estimates of ASD have regularly included 3 of the 5 PDDs: autistic disorder, Asperger disorder, and PDD-NOS.
2 In 1994, the American Psychiatric Association included several subtypes in the DSM-IV: autistic disorder, Asperger disorder, Rett disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). 1 In 1987, the American Psychiatric Association revised the diagnostic label from infantile autism to autistic disorder and slightly expanded the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-III-R. The American Psychiatric Association first described infantile autism as a distinct condition in the DSM-III and introduced the category of pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive behaviors and restricted interests.