Abstract
Despite housing ∼18% of the world's population, India does not yet have an estimate of prevalence of autism. This study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of autism in a selected population of school‐children in India. N = 11,849 children (mean age = 5.9 [SD = 1.3], 39.5% females) were selected from various school types from three boroughs in Kolkata, India. Parents/caregivers and teachers filled in the social and communication disorders checklist (SCDC). Children meeting cutoff on parent‐reported SCDC were followed up with the social communication questionnaire (SCQ). SCQ‐positive children were administered the autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS). Teacher report on SCDC was available on all 11,849 children. Parent‐report SCDC scores were obtained for 5,947 children. Mean scores on teacher SCDC were significantly lower than parent SCDC. Out of 1,247 SCDC‐positive children, 882 answered the SCQ, of whom 124 met the cutoff score of 15. Six of these children met criteria for autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or broader autism spectrum on the ADOS. The weighted estimate of supra‐threshold SCQ scores was 3.54% (CI: 2.88–4.3%). The weighted prevalence estimate of positive scores (for broader autism spectrum + ASD + autism) was 0.23% (0.07–0.46%). As ∼20% children in this state are known to be out of the school system, and ASD prevalence is likely to be higher in this group, this estimate is likely to represent the lower‐bound of the true prevalence. This study provides preliminary data on the prevalence of broader‐spectrum autism and supra‐threshold autistic traits in a population sample of school children in Eastern India. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1597–1605. ©2017 The Authors Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Autism Research
Highlights
Prevalence studies on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been carried out in more than 15 countries since 1966, largely in the western hemisphere
Heterogeneity of screening and diagnostic tools (SDTs) used in Asia has contributed to this variability; eight screening instruments have been used for the 26 prevalence studies in Asia
Teacher and parent report social and communication disorders checklist (SCDC) data were sought from all children in stage 1
Summary
Prevalence studies on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been carried out in more than 15 countries since 1966, largely in the western hemisphere. Within Asia, estimates vary widely across time and country (China: 0.003–0.17%, Japan: 0.011–0.21%, South Korea: 1.89%) [Kim et al, 2011; Sun & Allison, 2010]. Heterogeneity of screening and diagnostic tools (SDTs) used in Asia has contributed to this variability; eight screening instruments have been used for the 26 prevalence studies in Asia. A local version of Bryson’s Screening Scale was used in Indonesia while an Iranian study used the Childhood Symptom Inventory-4 [Ghanizadeh, 2008; Sprafkin, Gadow, Salisbury, Schneider, & Loney, 2002]. A recent Korean study used a translated and validated version of the autism spectrum screening questionnaire
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