Table 2.
Health Conditions in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders and in the General Population
| Health Condition | 18–29 years | 30–39 years | > 40 years | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASD* (N = 116) |
General Population† |
P Value | ASD* N = 67) |
General Population† |
P Value | ASD* N = 72) |
General Population† |
P Value | |
| Overall Health | |||||||||
| Excellent / Good | 80.9 % | 85.7 % | 0.25 | 68.7 % | 86.1 % | 0.004 | 82.9 % | 80.2 % | 0.59 |
| Fair / Poor | 19.1 % | 14.3 % | 0.25 | 31.3 % | 13.9 % | 0.004 | 17.1 % | 20.0 % | 0.56 |
| Neurologic | |||||||||
| Seizure Disorder | 11.2 % | 1.4 % ‡ | 0.002 | 22.4 % | 1.7 % ‡ | <0.001 | 29.2 % | 1.7 % ‡ | <0.001 |
| Migraine / Severe Headache | 8.6 % | 17.2 % ‡ | 0.004 | 4.5 % | 20.5 % ‡ | <0.001 | 0.0 % | 15.1 %‡ | <0.001 |
| Gastrointestinal | |||||||||
| Constipation | 19.8 % | 17.2 % | 0.54 | 32.8 % | 23.8 % | 0.14 | 31.9 % | 22.5 % | 0.11 |
| GERD | 23.3 % | — | — | 19.4 % | — | — | 18.1 % | — | — |
| Celiac Disease | 0.0 % | — | — | 0.0 % | — | — | 1.4 % | — | — |
| Bowel Obstruction | 0.0 % | — | — | 4.5 % | — | — | 2.8 % | — | — |
| Psychiatric | |||||||||
| Depression | 16.4 % | 6.4 % § | 0.007 | 17.9 % | 6.7 % § | 0.028 | 9.7 % | 7.9 %§ | 0.65 |
| Anxiety disorder | 35.3 % | ‖ | — | 22.4 % | ‖ | — | 31.9 % | ‖ | — |
| ADHD | 27.6 % | — | — | 9.0 % | — | — | 2.8 % | — | — |
| Schizophrenia or psychosis | 3.5 % | ¶ | — | 3.0 % | ¶ | — | 8.3 % | ¶ | — |
| Bipolar disorder | 7.8 % | — | — | 3.0 % | — | — | 4.2 % | — | — |
| Heart and Circulatory | |||||||||
| Hypertension | 12.9 % | 6.3 % | 0.05 | 10.5 % | 14.7 % | 0.34 | 27.8 % | 38.0 % | 0.071 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 9.5 % | 9.3 % | 0.96 | 32.8 % | 17.5 % | 0.01 | 36.1 % | 44.7 % | 0.151 |
| Myocardial Infarction or Stroke | 0.0 % | 0.4 % | 0.009 | 0.0 % | 0.8 % | <0.001 | 1.4 % | 5.9 % | 0.049 |
| Pulmonary | |||||||||
| Asthma | 17.2 % | 18.4 % | 0.76 | 11.9 % | 14.2 % | 0.6 | 5.6 % | 13.5 | 0.018 |
| Allergies | 39.7 % | 8.4 % | <0.001 | 32.8 % | 16.7 % | 0.009 | 29.2 % | 20.5 % | 0.13 |
| COPD # | 0.0 % | 0.2 % | <0.001 | 1.5 % | 0.4 % | 0.64 | 2.8 % | 2.5 % | 0.91 |
| Endocrine | |||||||||
| Diabetes | 3.5 % | 0.8 % | 0.22 | 4.5 % | 2.4 % | 0.52 | 6.9 % | 11.8 % | 0.17 |
| Hypothyroid | 4.3 % | 3.1 % ** | 0.60 | 16.4 % | 4.5 % ** | 0.016 | 13.9 % | 12.6 %** | 0.77 |
| Hyperthyroid | 0.9 % | 0.15 | 0.0 % | <0.001 | 4.2 % | 0.006 | |||
| Genito-urinary and Kidney | |||||||||
| Urinary incontinence | 4.3 % | 4.0 % | 0.89 | 19.4 % | 8.5 % | 0.039 | 22.2 % | 13.7 % | 0.11 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 0.9 % | 1.0 % | 0.94 | 0.0 % | 0.6 % | <0.001 | 1.4 % | 4.6 % | 0.27 |
| Musculoskeletal | |||||||||
| Osteoporosis | 2.6 % | 0.2 % | 0.21 | 7.5 % | 0.5 % | 0.062 | 6.9 % | 5.4 % | 0.67 |
| Substance Use | |||||||||
| Tobacco/Nicotine | 5.2 % | 31.9 % †† | <0.001 | 3.0 % | 27.5 % †† | <0.001 | 2.8 % | 24.5 % †† | <0.001 |
| Alcohol Misuse | 0.9 % | 11.9 % ‡‡ | <0.001 | 0.0 % | 15.1 % ‡‡ | <0.001 | 1.4 % | 18.2 % ‡‡ | <0.001 |
| Infectious | |||||||||
| STI | 0.9 % | 4.3 % §§ | 0.027 | 1.5 % | 4.1 % §§ | 0.292 | 0.0 % | 3.4 % §§ | <0.001 |
| General | |||||||||
| Obesity | 38.8 % | 25.7 % | 0.008 | 43.3 % | 33.9 % | 0.146 | 27.8 % | 37.8 % | 0.076 |
GERD gastroesphageal disease; ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; COPD Chronic obstructive lung disease; STI sexually transmitted illness
* Confidence intervals obtained using the Clopper–Pearson method due to small sample sizes in some cells
† All data are from NHANES 2009–2010 and NHANES 2011–2012 unless otherwise specified
‡ Data from NHIS 2013
§ Depression defined as have a PHQ9 score of 10 or greater. MEC weights used to calculate weighted estimates
‖ The 12-month prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder among adults is estimated to be 2.9 % United States.28,29 The lifetime risk for generalized anxiety is estimated at 9.0 %.28,29
¶ The lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia appears to be approximately 0.3–0.7 %.28,30–32 The prevalence of psychotic disorder due to another medical condition has been estimated to range from 0.21 % to 0.54 %.28,30–32 The lifetime prevalence of all psychotic disorders is estimated to be approximately 3 %32
# COPD includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis
** Includes any thyroid problem
†† Defined as using tobacco or nicotine in the last 5 days
‡‡ Defined as drinking 5 or more drinks per day almost every day
§§ Defined as having gonorrhea, chlamydia or genital herpes in the past 12 months