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The medical profiles of adults diagnosed with autism have changed since 2010, finds a study of medical records in the U.K. and Sweden, published in the online journal BMJ Mental Health.
There's been a pronounced shift from a prior diagnosis of epilepsy, psychosis and intellectual disability to ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), anxiety and depression since 2010, the data analysis indicates.
And the steepest rise in diagnoses has been among 16–20-year-olds, females and those of white ethnic background.
The number of people being diagnosed with autism has increased worldwide in recent decades, although it's not entirely clear if this has been driven by greater public awareness, reduced stigma or changes in diagnostic practice, say the researchers.
To explore this further, the researchers studied U.K. primary care records up to 2023 (CPRD Aurum; 47,413,279 patients from 1,784 general practices) and Swedish population-wide registry data (13,345,950 people) up to 2021 to look at trends over time.
They particularly wanted to find out if the social and demographic patterns of incident and prevalent autism diagnoses in adults, and the prevalence of other concurrent neuropsychiatric conditions, have changed over time. They also wanted to know if these trends are consistent in direction and magnitude across both the U.K. and Sweden.
Eligibility criteria included study entry on Jan. , at least one year registered at a general practice.
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