Are kids with autism at high risk for mental health conditions? Nearly 78% suffer from one, finds study
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex brain development disorder that is associated with significant, typically lifelong, functional impairment and public health challenges. People with autism experience co-occurring health conditions that may adversely affect their quality of life as well as the complexity and cost of their care. Co-occurring mental health conditions such as anxiety, attention, mood and behavior disorders are a part of this burden, but a population-based prevalence estimate has been lacking.
Researchers now report that 77.7% of children with autism have at least one mental health condition and nearly half or 49.1% have two mental health conditions or more. This is in contrast to 14.1% and 6.2% of youth without ASD, respectively, reveals analysis from the University of British Columbia's department of psychology and the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University, Pennsylvania.
The team also found that mental health conditions were present in 44.8% of pre-school age children with autism. The scope of the issue among that age group had not previously been established using a large, population-based sample, say authors.