There has been a big surge in cases of new autism diagnoses among young adults, apart from a rise in diagnoses for girls and young women in the US in just over a decade, researchers have reported. According to the data of over 12 million patients enrolled in major US healthcare systems between 2011 and 2022, published in the journal JAMA Open Network, the number of people diagnosed with autism climbed by 175 per cent. Also known as an autism spectrum disorder, autism is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave.
Even though autism can be diagnosed at any age, it is known as a developmental disorder since its symptoms appear in the first years of life. Spike in autism cases among young adults According to the report, the rise in diagnoses has been especially dramatic among young adults aged 26 to 34 years – experiencing a 450 per cent increase - more than 5.5 times rise in autism diagnoses between 2011 and 2022.
Even though boys are still four times as likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to girls, the gender gap in diagnoses is closing, said the team led by Luke Grosvenor of Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Pleasanton, California. The data also showed that while new diagnoses among male children during the study period rose by 185 per cent, they soared by 305 per cent among girls. Among adults, women charted a 315 per cent rise in autism diagnoses between 2011 and 2022, Grosvenor'.