title: Disparities in diagnoses received prior to a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: This study estimated differences by ethnicity in the diagnoses assigned prior to the diagnosis of autism. In this sample of 406 Medicaid-eligible children, African-Americans were 2.6 times less likely than white children to receive an autism diagnosis on their first specialty care visit. Among children who did not receive an autism diagnosis on their first visit, ADHD was the most common diagnosis. African-American children were 5.1 times more likely than white children to receive a diagnosis of adjustment disorder than of ADHD, and 2.4 times more likely to receive a diagnosis of conduct disorder than of ADHD. Differences in diagnostic patterns by ethnicity suggest possible variations in parents' descriptions of symptoms, clinician interpretations and expectations, or symptom presentation.
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. mandelld@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Mandell
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Ittenbach
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pinto-Martin
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data