Age of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in children and factors influencing the age of diagnosis / 中国当代儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the age of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the factors influencing the age of diagnosis in children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 1 691 children who visited in the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University for the first time and were definitely diagnosed with ASD between February 2011 and July 2017. A multiple linear regression model was used to identify the factors influencing the age of diagnosis of ASD.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ASD children had a mean age of 35±17 months (range 9-175 months) at diagnosis. Of all 1 691 children, the children who received a diagnosis of ASD at the age of 24-35 months accounted for the highest proportion (46.13%, 780/1 691), followed by those at the age of ≥36 months (33.41%, 565/1 691). The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the children who had language disorders or lived in the main urban area or whose parents had a high education level had a younger age at diagnosis than other children (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Most ASD children have an age of 24-35 months at diagnosis. The age of diagnosis of ASD is associated with children's symptoms, living area, and parents' education level.</p>