Autism prevalence increases: 1 in 59 US children

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One in 59 US children has autism, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new estimate is a prevalence rate of 1.7%, up from one in every 68 children (1.5%) in the 2016 report, which was based on data from 2012. The new figure was derived from 2014 estimates for 8-year-olds diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in 11 communities across the nation.

The new estimate represents a 15% increase from two years prior and a 150% increase since 2000.

The CDC launched the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network in 2000 to collect data that would provide estimates of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. The agency laid the groundwork for the network in 1996, when it developed a methodology for estimating autism prevalence using information from children's health and education records, Christensen said.

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"So since 2000, we've funded between six and 14 sites to use the CDC established methodology to estimate the prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder in diverse communities throughout the US," she said.

The new estimated rate of autism in the United States is based on data collected from 11 communities in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin. It is not nationally representative, Christensen noted.

"There were more than 300,000 children living in these communities -- about 8% of all 8-year old children living in the US," she said. "And these are diverse communities so that we can look at autism prevalence and characteristics in a number of different groups defined by race/ethnicity or by socioeconomic status."

Though estimates of autism varied widely among the 11 communities, five reported similar estimates of up to 1.4%. The New Jersey community estimated the highest prevalence of autism, at 2.9%.

Overall, fewer than half of the children identified with autism had received their first diagnosis by the time they were 4 years old, the new CDC report finds. Concerns about development were noted in the health records of 85% of children with autism by age 3, but only 42% received a developmental evaluation by that age.