CDC: Autism, ADHD Rates on the Rise | Show Right Health

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By Amanda Gardner

MONDAY, Might 23, 2011 (Well being.com) ? The proportion of children and teens in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with a developmental disability such as autism has increased 17% considering that the late 1990s, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Between 1997 and 2008, the number of young children diagnosed with a disability rose from 8.2 million to roughly 10 million, or a lot more than 15% of all kids between the ages of 3 and 17, the researchers discovered.

This upward trend has been driven largely by surges in the number of youngsters diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), despite the fact that the prevalence of stuttering and learning disabilities has also increased.

The study, which appears in the June problem of the journal Pediatrics, is the 1st time nationally representative information on developmental disabilities has been collected given that 1988, says Sheree Boulet, DrPH, one of the study?s authors and an epidemiologist at the CDC?s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

The reasons for the increases aren?t clear, but growing awareness and increasing acceptance of developmental disabilities have probably played a massive role, Boulet says. For instance, she explains, the availability of early and powerful treatments for conditions such as ADHD may be encouraging much more parents to have their children screened for the disorder.

The study findings are to be expected, given the ?increased awareness and considerably greater reporting,? says Alan Hilfer, PhD, the director of psychology at Maimonides Medical Center, in New York City. (Hilfer was not involved in the new study.)

At the very same time, the occurrence of disabilities could be genuinely increasing. A shift toward having babies later in life, much more premature births, and growing use of fertility treatments?all of which are risk factors for developmental disabilities?could be contributing to the greater rates, the researchers say.

The findings ?suggest that there are some much more prevention strategies that could be put into use,? Boulet says.

The study was based on nationally representative health surveys that included in-person interviews with almost 120,000 young children across the country. During the interviews, the researchers asked parents regardless of whether their kids had been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, studying disabilities, cerebral palsy, seizures, stuttering or stammering, hearing loss, blindness, or intellectual disability (formerly recognized as mental retardation).

The overall disability rate rose from about 13% to just over 15% in the course of the 12-year study period. In 2008, the most widespread disabilities had been ADHD (7.6%) and understanding disabilities (7.2%). Roughly .75% of youngsters had been diagnosed with autism, up from .19% in 1997.

The only disability to decrease was moderate-to-profound hearing loss, which went down 31%.

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Source: http://www.show-right.com/cdc-autism-adhd-rates-on-the-rise.html

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