US EditionSwedish Study Finds Autism Diagnosis Ratio Approaches Gender Parity by Adulthood
A study of 2.7 million Swedes shows autism diagnosis ratios shift from male-skewed in childhood to near equal by age 20 due to later female diagnosis patterns.
- On Feb 4, Caroline Fyfe, PhD and co-authors published a study in The BMJ tracking over 2.7 million people in Sweden and finding a nearly 1:1 male-to-female autism diagnosis ratio by age 20.
- Later visibility of autistic features in girls appears to explain Fyfe and colleagues' findings that clinical biases and masking contribute to girls and women receiving later diagnoses.
- Using national patient records and ICD-9/ICD-10 codes, incidence increased across birth cohorts and calendar periods through 2020, with peaks in males aged 10–14 and females aged 15–19.
- Patient advocates argued that underdiagnosis of autistic females leads to severe difficulties and suicidality, prompting calls to review diagnostic pathways and expand services for autistic women and girls.
- Challenging prevailing ratios, the research disputes the historical four-to-one male:female ratio and notes that the ADDM network's focus on young children misses adolescent female diagnoses, while study limitations include genetics and co-occurring conditions.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Shafaq News – Follow-ups: A new study has revealed that girls and boys are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than previously thought. Researchers have long considered autism a disorder that primarily affects males, but a comprehensive study conducted by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has challenged this belief. It showed that while girls are often diagnosed later than boys, the diagnosis rate becomes almost equal by age 20. The study i…
For a long time it was thought that autism concerns four times more boys than girls. A new study questions this now. And explains why more and more girls get the diagnosis.
Autism Probably Affects Boys And Girls Equally, Massive New Study Reveals
Autism has historically been viewed as a condition that affects men and boys more frequently than women and girls. But a massive new study based on data from millions of people suggests this isn't actually the case, at least in Sweden. While boys are diagnosed with the condition at higher rates during childhood, by adulthood, the ratio is roughly 1:1. This suggests it's not a case of fewer women having autism: it's just that they aren't diagnose…
A Swedish study finds that by the age of 20, diagnosis rates are almost the same in men and women, challenging assumptions about gender differences.
The research findings highlight the need to investigate why autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed later in girls than in boys.
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