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The ASDEU autism prevalence study in northern Spain

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Abstract

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was studied in children in the County of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain) as part of the European Union’s Autism Spectrum Disorder in Europe project (ASDEU–https://asdeu.eu). To identify cases in a total community sample of 7- to 9-year-old pupils (N = 14,734), a multistage approach was adopted: in the first stage, a teacher nomination (TN) form was completed by school teachers; and in the second stage, all families with a child nominated by their teachers were invited to complete the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). A total of 108 (59%) schools participated fully, yielding a final sample of 9177 of 14.734 (61.9%) pupils. A total of 212 (2.3%) children were nominated via the TN form, and of these, 105 (49.5%) returned the completed SCQ. Twenty-five (23.8%) cases with SCQ scores ≥ 15 were invited to undergo a free clinical assessment, and 10 (40%) new cases of ASD were identified. The prevalence estimate included the 55 cases already being supported by the Gipuzkoa’s only ASD association, the Gipuzkoa Autism Society (Asociación Guipuzcoana de Autismo/GAUTENA)), as well as the 10 new subjects identified by the ASDEU field diagnostic process. A sensitivity analysis was performed to estimate new potential ASD cases among the non-participant schools, leading to a final figure of 87 cases of ASD in this age-bracket at the date of the study. This global probabilistic estimate, including non-participating schools, would thus provide a population prevalence of 0.59% (95% CI 0.48–0.73), a result lower than those reported by some other studies. Attrition rates in cross-sectional studies are challenging and support the need for developing longitudinal ASD incidence surveillance study areas (ASD observatories)

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Acknowledgements

The ASDEU (Autism Spectrum Disorder in Europe) Project was funded by the European Parliament, managed by the Directorate-General of Health and Consumers of the European Commission (DG-SANCO), and implemented in Spain by the Carlos III Institute of Health (Ref./SANCO/2014/C2/035). The sub-project in Gipuzkoa received funding from the Carlos III Institute of Health, Gipuzkoa Polyclinic Foundation, Gipuzkoa Autism Society (GAUTENA), and Sabadell Bank Foundation.The Basque Regional Education Authority’s commitment is gratefully acknowledged, as is the support received from the families and professionals of the Gipuzkoa Autism Society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Policlínica Gipuzkoa & GAUTENA (Asociación Guipuzcoana de Autismo), Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain

    Joaquin Fuentes & Irma Isasa

  2. Fundación Policlínica Gipuzkoa Fundazioa, Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain

    Ane Basurko

  3. Departamento de Educación, Gobierno Vasco., Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

    Isabel Galende

  4. Clínica Privada de Psicología, Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain

    María Dolores Muguerza

  5. Research Institute for Developmental Medicine (RID), Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Patricia García-Primo

  6. GAUTENA (Asociación Guipuzcoana de Autismo), Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain

    Jesús García

  7. Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad/INICO, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    Clara J. Fernández-Álvarez & Ricardo Canal-Bedia

  8. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Raras & CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Manuel Posada de la Paz

  9. Policlínica Gipuzkoa, Unidad de Psiquiatría Infantil y Adolescente, Paseo de Miramón 174, 20014, Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain

    Joaquin Fuentes

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  1. Joaquin Fuentes
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  2. Ane Basurko
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  3. Irma Isasa
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  4. Isabel Galende
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  5. María Dolores Muguerza
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  6. Patricia García-Primo
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  7. Jesús García
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  8. Clara J. Fernández-Álvarez
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  9. Ricardo Canal-Bedia
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  10. Manuel Posada de la Paz
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Correspondence to Joaquin Fuentes.

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Conflict of interest

Joaquín Fuentes received research support from the Gipuzkoa Polyclinic Foundation (Fundación Policlínica Gipuzkoa), Servier, and AIMS-2-Trials project ID 777394. He also received partial support for attendance at professional meetings from the Gipuzkoa Polyclinic Foundation, ESCAP, AACAP, AEPNYA and Shire. Ricardo Canal received research support from the AIMS-2-Trial project ID 777394.

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Fuentes, J., Basurko, A., Isasa, I. et al. The ASDEU autism prevalence study in northern Spain. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30, 579–589 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01539-y

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