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Urban and Education Disparity for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Taiwan Birth Cohort Study

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Abstract

This study aimed to determine the optimal cut-off for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening in 66-month-old children, and to explore the distribution of ASD screening and diagnosis in Taiwan. The Taiwan Birth Cohort Study dataset was used (N = 20,095). The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) cut-off point of 13/14 was considered optimal for screening of children at 66 months. More children were diagnosed with ASD in urban areas. Parents of children diagnosed with ASD had a higher level of education, but parents of children with a lower level of education were screened as being at higher risk of ASD. Urban disparity and parental level of education effected parental awareness of the illness and the rate of ASD diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Bureau of Health Promotion (DOH94-HP-1802, DOH95-HP-1802, DOH96-HP-1702, DOH99-HP-1702). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors had full access to all the data in the study and have final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

Author Contributions

All authors designed the study. TLC and SJL overlooked the sampling and experimental procedures. FWL and BCS undertook the statistical analysis and interpreted the analysis. FWL wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Calo Psychiatric Center, Pingtung County, Taiwan, Republic of China

    For-Wey Lung

  2. Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

    For-Wey Lung

  3. Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    For-Wey Lung

  4. Institute of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Tung-Liang Chiang

  5. Genetic Counseling Center, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Shio-Jean Lin

  6. Institute of Allied Health Sciences and Department of Nursing, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 Da-Hsueh Rd., Tainan, 701, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Bih-Ching Shu

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  1. For-Wey Lung
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  2. Tung-Liang Chiang
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  3. Shio-Jean Lin
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  4. Bih-Ching Shu
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Correspondence to Bih-Ching Shu.

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Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from the parents of all participants at each stage of the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

The TBCS protocol was approved by the institutional review board of a teaching hospital in Taiwan.

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Lung, FW., Chiang, TL., Lin, SJ. et al. Urban and Education Disparity for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Taiwan Birth Cohort Study. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 599–606 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2980-5

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