Brazilian scientific output on autism spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review sought to conduct a general analysis of the Brazilian scientific output on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) published between 2002 and 2009.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted in the scientific databases PubMed, SciELO, and LILACS and in the CAPES portal, using keywords such as "autism" and "pervasive developmental disorders".

RESULTS

A total of 93 articles were identified, most of which were authored by researchers from Southeast Brazil and affiliated with public universities. Approximately one-third of all articles were published in journals with an impact factor ranging from 0.441 to 3.211; most were based on small sample sizes. Furthermore, 140 theses and dissertations were identified, 82.1% of which were master's theses. Interventions for ASD were the predominant research topic.

CONCLUSION

Brazilian researchers are clearly interested in the topic of ASD; however, a substantial portion of their scientific output is limited to doctoral dissertations or master's theses. A minority of articles was published in journals with a high impact factor. These findings suggest the need for studies with larger sample sizes, which could produce higher-impact findings and thus increase visibility of the Brazilian scientific output in the field of ASD research.