MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2006 May 5;55(17):481-6.
Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by early onset of impairments in social interaction and communication and unusual, stereotyped behaviors. Autism (i.e., autistic disorder) often is classified with two related, although less severe, developmental disorders: Asperger disorder and pervasive developmental disorder--not otherwise specified. These three constitute the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Diagnosis of ASDs is based exclusively on developmental pattern and behavioral observation. Two population-based studies conducted by CDC in selected U.S. locations reported ASD prevalence of 3.4 and 6.7 per 1,000 children, respectively. CDC also conducts two nationally representative surveys, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), in which parents are asked whether their child ever received a diagnosis of autism. Because of similarities in methodology used by the two surveys, CDC analyzed 2003-2004 data from NHIS and data from the first-ever NSCH (collected during January 2003-July 2004) to 1) estimate the population-based prevalence of parental report of diagnosed autism in the United States and 2) assess parental reporting of child social, emotional, and behavioral strengths and difficulties and special-health care needs among children with and without reported autism. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that the prevalence of parent-reported diagnosis of autism was 5.7 per 1,000 children in NHIS and 5.5 per 1,000 children in NSCH. Prevalence estimates in the two studies were similar across age, sex, and racial/ethnic populations. The consistency in estimates between the two surveys suggests high reliability for parental report of autism. These estimates suggest that, as of 2003-2004, autism had been diagnosed in at least 300,000 U.S. children aged 4-17 years. In addition, parental reports of autism were associated with reported social, emotional, and behavioral symptoms and specialized needs. Thus, these surveys might be useful to assess health, education, and social service needs of children with autism.
自闭症是一种终身性神经发育障碍，其特征为社交互动和沟通方面的障碍在早期出现，以及存在异常、刻板行为。自闭症（即孤独症谱系障碍）通常与另外两种相关但程度较轻的发育障碍归为一类：阿斯伯格综合征和未特定的广泛性发育障碍。这三种疾病构成了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）。ASD的诊断完全基于发育模式和行为观察。美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）在美国部分地区开展的两项基于人群的研究报告称，每1000名儿童中ASD的患病率分别为3.4和6.7。CDC还进行两项具有全国代表性的调查，即国民健康访谈调查（NHIS）和儿童健康全国调查（NSCH），在调查中询问家长他们的孩子是否曾被诊断为自闭症。由于这两项调查所采用方法的相似性，CDC分析了NHIS 2003 - 2004年的数据以及首次NSCH（在2003年1月至2004年7月期间收集）的数据，以：1）估计美国基于人群的家长报告的已诊断自闭症患病率；2）评估有和没有报告自闭症的儿童中家长报告的孩子社交、情感和行为优势及困难以及特殊医疗保健需求。本报告描述了该分析的结果，结果表明，在NHIS中家长报告的自闭症诊断患病率为每1000名儿童中有5.7例，在NSCH中为每1000名儿童中有5.5例。两项研究中的患病率估计在年龄、性别和种族/族裔人群中相似。两项调查估计结果的一致性表明家长报告自闭症的可靠性很高。这些估计表明，截至2003 - 2004年，至少300,000名4至17岁的美国儿童被诊断患有自闭症。此外，家长报告的自闭症与报告的社交、情感和行为症状以及特殊需求相关。因此，这些调查可能有助于评估自闭症儿童的健康、教育和社会服务需求。
