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Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorders Incidence by Sub-Populations in Israel 1992–2009: A Total Population Study

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Abstract

We analyzed data from the Israeli National Insurance Institute (NII). Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) incidence was calculated for all children born in Israel 1992–2009, and by population groups. Overall, 9,109 ASD cases among 2,431,649 children were identified. ASD cumulative incidence by age 8 years increased 10-fold during 2000–2011, from 0.49 % to 0.49 %, while other child disabilities in NII increased only 1.65-fold. There was a consistent increase in ASD incidence with advancing birth cohorts born 1992–2004, stabilizing among those born 2005–2009. ASD rates among Israeli Arabs were substantially lower, and increased about 10 years later than the general population. The findings suggest a role for ASD awareness, accessing of the government benefit, or the way the concept of ASD is perceived.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Environment and Health Fund (EHF, Israel), the Harvard-NIEHS center (P30-ES000002), and Mr. James Crystal in honor of Mrs. Lillian Yaros. We wish to thank Daniel Gottlieb, Rivka Prior, Alex Gealia, Alina Milkin and Meira Schwartz from the Israeli National Insurance Institute for insightful discussions and assistance in data collection.

Conflict of interest

Drs. Raz, Weisskopf and Levine, and Mr. Pinto report no other biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 401 Park Dr., Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Raanan Raz

  2. Departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Marc G. Weisskopf

  3. Medical Division, Department of Child Development, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Michael Davidovitch

  4. The National Insurance Institute of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel

    Ofir Pinto

  5. Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah, Jerusalem, Israel

    Hagai Levine

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  1. Raanan Raz
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  2. Marc G. Weisskopf
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  3. Michael Davidovitch
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  4. Ofir Pinto
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  5. Hagai Levine
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Correspondence to Raanan Raz.

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Raz, R., Weisskopf, M.G., Davidovitch, M. et al. Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorders Incidence by Sub-Populations in Israel 1992–2009: A Total Population Study. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 1062–1069 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2262-z

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