Prevalence investigation on autism spectrum disorders in urban preschools in Xi′an / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)among children in kindergartens in Xi′an urban districts.Methods:A stratified cluster sampling method was adopted, and selected all children from 12 kindergartens in 6 urban districts of Xi′an.Primary screening positive children with ASD were identified by filling out the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) by their parents and the guardians reports, and then the beha-vioral observations were made to identify suspicious ASD children.Finally these children were diagnosed in the hospital through the autism diagnostic observation schedule, 2 nd edition (ADOS-2). The data were calculated with SPSS 18.0. Results:Totally, 38 cases with ASD were diagnosed among 5 178 children, the prevalence of children ASD in kindergartens in Xi′an urban districts was 7.3‰, and the 95% confidence interval was 4.98‰-9.62‰.The prevalence of ASD in children was statistically significant in different age groups ( χ2=9.914, P<0.05) and gender groups ( χ2=18.812, P<0.05). The accuracy of ASD screening by guardians reports is better than that by ABC. Conclusions:(1)The prevalence of ASD children in kindergartens in Xi′an urban districts is at high level in similar reports in China.If ASD children at the special education institutions and home are considered, the overall prevalence rate is higher, indicating that the prevalence of ASD children in China may be underestimated.(2)With the increase of age, the attendance rate of ASD children in kindergartens has a decreasing trend.