Autism Spectrum Disorders – Are they really epidemic?

AimThe aim of this paper is to report on how different external methodological factors influence estimates of ASD prevalence.MethodsPubMed searches was conducted using the search terms, “Autism”, “Autistic Disorder”, “Autism Spectrum Disorders”, “Asperger”, “Prevalence” and “epidemiology”, in combination. In total 49 studies were included. We also performed a manual search for and reviewed related articles referenced in the original articles.ResultsThe reported prevalence rates of ASD vary widely, and so do the methodology used in the studies.ConclusionThere are reasons to argue that the methods used in some studies cause the high prevalence rates reported recently.