Autism Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Autism, including details on symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, causes, effects.

Epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder in Portugal: prevalence, clinical characterization, and medical conditions.

Oliveira G, Ataíde A, Marques C, Miguel TS, Coutinho AM, Mota-Vieira L, Gonçalves E, Lopes NM, Rodrigues V, Carmona da Mota H, Vicente AM

Centro de Desenvolvimento da Criança, Hospital Pediátrico de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. guiomar@hpc.chc.min-saude.pt

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and identify its clinical characterization, and medical conditions in a paediatric population in Portugal. A school survey was conducted in elementary schools, targeting 332,808 school-aged children in the mainland and 10,910 in the Azores islands. Referred children were directly assessed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Clinical history and a laboratory investigation was performed. In parallel, a systematic multi-source search of children known to have autism was carried out in a restricted region. The global prevalence of ASD per 10,000 was 9.2 in mainland, and 15.6 in the Azores, with intriguing regional differences. A diversity of associated medical conditions was documented in 20%, with an unexpectedly high rate of mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders.

Published 20 September 2007 in Dev Med Child Neurol, 49(10): 726-33.
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