Objective@#To understand the
prevalence and influencing factors of
children with ASD in central and eastern
Inner Mongolia, and to provide theoretical basis for
disease prevention and
prevalence of ASD.@*
Methods@#Sixteen
primary schools and kindergartens were selected from 5 cities in central and eastern
Inner Mongolia through random
cluster sampling. A total of 15 817
children aged 3-14 years were selected.
Children who were positive using Clancy
Autism Behavior Scale were further diagnosed according to the teacher s nomination form and the
Autism Behavior Checklist, as well as the diagnostic criteria of the fifth edition of the American Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders by 2 professionals.@*Results@#The
prevalence of ASD was 0.27% (42/15 817), with
prevalence in
urban areas (0.16%, 15/9 231) higher than that of
rural areas (0.41%, 27/6 586) ( χ 2=8.89, P <0.01).
Logistic regression analysis showed that maternal
education and
language development were negatively associated with ASD in urban
children [ OR =0.29(95% CI =0.12-0.69) and 0.18(95% CI =0.05-0.60), P <0.05]. ASD in rural
children were positively associated with
enuresis and introverted
family members [ OR =7.09(95% CI =1.60-32.27) and 8.63(95% CI =3.10- 24.01 ), P <0.05].@*Conclusion@#High
prevalence of ASD is found in
urban area of central and eastern
Inner Mongolia. Unhealthy
habits,
neonatal diseases, low parental
education, delayed
language development and poor
exercise performance are primary factors associated with ASD in both urban and
rural areas.