title: Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Referred for Diagnostic Autism Evaluation.
abstract: Increased public awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and routine screening in primary care have contributed to increased requests for diagnostic ASD evaluations. However, given the scarcity of subspecialty autism diagnostic resources, overreferral of children suspected of having ASD may be contributing to long waiting lists at tertiary care autism centers and delaying diagnosis for those children who truly have ASD. To determine whether children are being excessively referred to ASD-specific diagnostic clinics, our objective was to determine the prevalence of true ASD diagnoses in children referred for diagnostic ASD evaluation. Charts of all patients referred to a regional autism center between April 2011 and August 2012 for suspicion of a possible ASD were retrospectively reviewed and demographic and clinical diagnoses abstracted. Only 214 of 348 patients evaluated (61%) received an ASD diagnosis. Thus, concerns about autism are not confirmed by an ASD diagnosis in a significant number of children.
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA samontei@texaschildrens.org.
authors.forename: Sonia A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Adiaha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spinks-Franklin
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Treadwell-Deering
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Leandra
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sellers-Vinson
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Eboni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Proud
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Voigt
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Asperger disorder; autism; autism screening; autism spectrum disorder; autistic disorder; developmental delay; developmental screening; not otherwise specified; pervasive developmental disorder; referral