Can Rise in Autism Be Explained by Broadened Diagnosis?
New study out of Denmark suggests that autism’s rising prevalence may stem, in part, from changes in diagnostic criteria
January 06, 2015
A report in this week’s JAMA Pediatrics revisits the suggestion that expanded diagnostic criteria may be a major contributor to autism’s rising numbers.
The study tracked 677,915 Danish children over several decades. It found that a significant rise in autism prevalence followed a 1994 broadening of Denmark’s diagnostic criteria for the disorder. The Danish study does not discount other factors that may be contributing to the dramatic rise in autism prevalence over recent decades.
