B - 16 Prevalence of Comorbid Diagnoses among Individuals with a Clinical Vs. Self-Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC).

Abstract

The evolution of ASC has changed drastically since its initial conceptualization. Therefore, it is possible that numerous individuals remain undiagnosed and untreated based on lack of knowledge about this condition. Diagnoses of ASC often include multiple other detrimental comorbid disorders. To elucidate whether the issue of underdiagnosis is relevant, it is important to determine if there are individuals who believe they qualify for a diagnosis of ASC, who remain undiagnosed. This study aims to compare the prevalence of comorbid diagnoses between individuals diagnosed by a clinician with those who self-report having ASC. 391 adults who self-reported have ASC (ages 18+) were recruited via Research Match. The call for subjects stated that the study was looking for individuals with a diagnosis of ASC to participate. Volunteers were asked to indicate if they were diagnosed with ASC, and if so, from whom they were diagnosed. One of the options for who gave the diagnosis was "self". Finally, participants were asked to indicate any comorbid diagnoses they had. Of the 391 participants, 180 self-reported having ASC, and 211 participants indicated that they were diagnosed by a clinician. A one-way ANOVA was significant, indicating significant differences among groups, F(5,389) = 2.84, p = 0.016. Specifically, those who were diagnosed by a psychiatrist (M = 4.41) had significantly more comorbid diagnoses when compared with those who were self-diagnosed (M = 3.62). As 180 participants who claimed to have ASC were not clinically diagnosed, the results suggest that under-diagnoses of this condition may be prevalent.