CHICAGO/Seoul (Reuters) - a 38 children in the South Korea may have autism, a surprisingly high number based on a new approach to research suggesting that autism is a global problem which is significantly underdiagnosed, researchers said Monday.
The estimate, which translates by 2.64 per cent of the children is much higher than the 1 per cent approximately seen in studies in the United States and in Europe.
The study is the first to estimate the autism in Korea in the South, and while the study must be confirmed, it suggests autism may be more common than they thought.
"We surprised us." Yes, "said Dr Shin Young Kim from Yale University, whose study was funded by the advocacy group speaks of autism and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry."
The team of Kim used a careful research method involving 55,000 children aged 7 to 12 in the city of Goyang Korea of screening. The team interviewed on the behaviour of their children, parents, and then follow-up assessments of children likely to confirm their diagnosis.
This population-based approach was designed to capture the cases which could not be detected by methods that use the school or medical records to identify children with autism.
"The high prevalence of this new population, that we included in our study - children without previous delays development or mental health problems," said Kim.
The rate of autism in children in special schools was 0.75%, compared to 1.89% in normal school classes.
Autism rates were climbing over the last decade, in part due to changes in the way it is diagnosed.
Instead of a single diagnosis, autism is a spectrum of diseases ranging from a profound inability to communicate and mental retardation to mild symptoms as with Asperger's syndrome.
WORLD CONCERN
In Asia, parents are ignorant in large part on the disorder, which has no cure, and are reluctant to face.
"Many parents in Korea does not recognize the symptoms of autism." "We are not sure which figure is correct, but if this is the case, number of children with autism may be underdiagnosed,", said a spokesman at a specialist clinic.
"A problem that seems to pop up frequently, it is that parents do not want to recognize that their children may be autistic, said the woman, who asked not be named.
"Many do not recognize the need for clinical care, which is essential,", said a doctor at a such another clinic. "Korean culture can make it more difficult (accept) autism."
The highly structured nature of Korean schools - in which the school day can exceed 12 hours - may also contribute to a high number of children with autism not detected.
"For quiet, high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders, this environment can reduce the likelihood of referrals to special education programs," the team wrote.
Geraldine Dawson of Autism Speaks said the study "confirms that autism is a world concern of health".
But it also suggests that research methods current are underestimating autism in the United States and elsewhere.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates autism affects about 110 children.
Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, an epidemiologist at the CDC, said that it is probably method for the estimation of the prevalence agency - with the emphasis on probable cases - lack some of the children.
"We know that we do are not capturing all of the cases," she told Reuters in a telephone interview.
In regards to the study of Korea in the South, she said: "we are concerned as this prevalence is high, but we must bear in mind that they are using a different methodology." Using different methodology gives you different estimates, "she said."
But Craig Newschaffer, a researcher of Autism at Drexel University in Philadelphia, which has seen the study, said there may be other reasons, that the estimates of the Korea of the South are higher.
"Most of the cases came from the sample of the general population," he said, which was attended by only about 60 per cent of the parents. He said in ordinary schools, parents who have concerns about their child's development could have been more likely to participate than those who had no concern.
But to Newschaffer, numbers are less important than the conclusion that autism is so widespread.
"Autism is a major problem of public health of the United States, in Europe and probably in the world." I do not think that this is a game changer, but I think we must be more attentive to determine why. ?
(Other reports by Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong.) (Editing by Eric Beech)
No comments:
Post a Comment