title: Low but increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in a French area from register-based data.
abstract: Register-based prevalence rates of childhood autism (CA), Asperger's syndrome (AS) and other autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were calculated among children aged 7 years old of the 1997-2003 birth cohorts, living in four counties in France. The proportion of children presenting comorbidities was reported. 1123 children with ASD were recorded (M/F ratio: 4.1), representing an overall prevalence rate of 36.5/10,000 children (95 % CI 34.4-38.7): 8.8/10,000 for CA (95 % CI 7.8-9.9), 1.7/10,000 for AS (95 % CI 1.3-2.3) and 25.9/10,000 for other ASD (95 % CI 24.2-27.8). ASD prevalence significantly increased (p < 0.0001) during the period under study. The proportion of children with an intellectual disability was 47.3 %, all other comorbidities were present in less than 5 % of the cases.
authors.affiliation: Register for Severely Disabled Children and Perinatal Observatory (RHEOP), 23 Avenue Albert 1er de Belgique, 38000, Grenoble, France. maritvanbakel_rheop@orange.fr.
authors.forename: Marit Maria Elisabeth
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: van Bakel
authors.affiliation: INSERM U.1027, 330 Avenue de Grand Bretagne, 31000, Toulouse, France.|Paul-Sabatier University, 31400, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Malika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delobel-Ayoub
authors.affiliation: Themas Team, UMR 5525, Joseph Fourier University, Domaine de la Merci, 38706, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cans
authors.affiliation: Autism Resource Centre of the Rhone-Alpes Region, 3 rue de la Gare, 38521, St-Egreve, France.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Assouline
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Procreation, University Hospital Grenoble, Avenue du Maquis du Grésivaudan, 38700, Grenoble, France.|DYCTIM Team, UMR 5525 TIMC-IMAG, Joseph Fourier University Hospital, Domaine de la Merci, 38706, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Simon
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Jouk
authors.affiliation: INSERM U.1027, 330 Avenue de Grand Bretagne, 31000, Toulouse, France.|Paul-Sabatier University, 31400, Toulouse, France.|Department of Child Psychiatry, La Grave University Hospital, Place Lange, 31059, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Raynaud
authors.affiliation: INSERM U.1027, 330 Avenue de Grand Bretagne, 31000, Toulouse, France.|Paul-Sabatier University, 31400, Toulouse, France.|Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Purpan University Hospital, 31300, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arnaud
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries
keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Comorbidities; Population register; Prevalence