Table 2.
Distribution of sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics in MEPS by source of case ascertainment, U.S. children ages 3–17 years
| Total population age 3–17 |
NHIS Any ASD |
MEPS Any ASD |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Weighted %a | 95% CI | N | Weighted % | 95% CI | N | Weighted % | 95% CI | |
| Gender | |||||||||
| Male | 23,596 | 51.0 | (50.2–51.8) | 356 | 81.9 | (76.2–87.6) | 293 | 82.2 | (76.4–87.9) |
| Female | 22,348 | 49.0 | (48.2–49.8) | 79 | 18.1 | (12.4–23.8) | 67 | 17.8 | (12.1–23.6) |
| Age | |||||||||
| Age 3–7 | 16,210 | 32.8 | (32.2–33.5) | 111 | 20.5 | (15.5–25.4) | 137 | 32.6 | (25.7–39.5) |
| Age 8–12 | 14,345 | 33.1 | (32.3–33.8) | 179 | 43.2 | (36.5–49.9) | 120 | 34.1 | (27.0–41.2) |
| Age 13–17 | 15,389 | 34.1 | (33.4–34.8) | 145 | 36.3 | (29.0–43.7) | 103 | 33.3 | (25.8–40.8) |
| Race/Ethnicity | |||||||||
| Hispanic | 15,970 | 21.8 | (20.2–23.4) | 106 | 15.0 | (10.5–19.5) | 87 | 15.3 | (10.5–20.1) |
| Non-Hispanic White | 16,682 | 55.2 | (53.6–56.9) | 202 | 63.9 | (57.0–70.8) | 176 | 66.2 | (59.0–73.4) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 9011 | 14.4 | (13.3–15.4) | 78 | 12.8 | (8.5–17.2) | 61 | 11.5 | (7.4–15.6) |
| Non-Hispanic Asian | 2272 | 4.2 | (3.8–4.7) | 17 | 3.2 | (0.9–5.5) | 13 | 2.2 | (0.6–3.9) |
| Non-Hispanic Other | 2009 | 4.3 | (3.8–4.9) | 32 | 5.0 | (2.0–7.9) | 23 | 4.8 | (1.8–7.7) |
| Poverty Status | |||||||||
| Poor | 12,417 | 19.1 | (18.2–20.0) | 102 | 17.8 | (13.0–22.5) | 83 | 16.4 | (11.8–20.9) |
| Near poor | 3414 | 5.6 | (5.3–5.8) | 42 | 7.2 | (4.2–10.3) | 35 | 7.4 | (4.7–10.1) |
| Low income | 8485 | 16.0 | (15.5–16.5) | 73 | 14.3 | (9.8–18.8) | 58 | 15.6 | (10.0–21.1) |
| Middle income | 12,415 | 31.8 | (30.9–32.6) | 123 | 31.2 | (24.9–37.6) | 107 | 33.1 | (26.0–40.3) |
| High income | 9213 | 27.6 | (26.5–28.7) | 95 | 29.4 | (22.3–36.5) | 77 | 27.6 | (20.4–34.7) |
| Highest Education in Family | |||||||||
| Less than high school | 7409 | 10.1 | (9.5–10.7) | 48 | 8.0 | (4.2–11.7) | 37 | 6.8 | (3.3–10.3) |
| High school graduate | 13,542 | 26.3 | (25.5–27.2) | 103 | 21.6 | (15.6–27.5) | 82 | 21.7 | (15.4–28.0) |
| Some college | 12,559 | 28.7 | (27.9–29.5) | 122 | 25.0 | (18.6–31.5) | 117 | 31.6 | (24.4–38.8) |
| Bachelors | 7536 | 20.6 | (19.8–21.3) | 87 | 24.8 | (17.7–32.0) | 69 | 23.9 | (16.5–31.2) |
| Post-graduate | 4898 | 14.4 | (13.6–15.2) | 75 | 20.5 | (13.7–27.4) | 55 | 15.9 | (10.3–21.6) |
| Census Region | |||||||||
| North | 6979 | 17.0 | (15.9–18.1) | 77 | 18.1 | (12.2–24.0) | 65 | 19.7 | (13.3–26.2) |
| Midwest | 8814 | 21.5 | (20.4–22.7) | 96 | 26.3 | (18.8–33.9) | 84 | 27.2 | (19.1–35.2) |
| South | 17,477 | 37.2 | (35.7–38.7) | 133 | 27.9 | (21.2–34.7) | 118 | 31.0 | (23.9–38.1) |
| West | 12,674 | 24.2 | (22.9–25.6) | 129 | 27.6 | (19.4–35.9) | 93 | 22.1 | (15.7–28.5) |
| Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) | |||||||||
| MSA | 39,337 | 84.7 | (82.9–86.4) | 386 | 85.9 | (80.3–91.5) | 316 | 86.4 | (80.6–92.3) |
| Non-MSA | 6607 | 15.3 | (13.6–17.1) | 49 | 14.1 | (8.5–19.7) | 44 | 13.6 | (7.7–19.4) |
| Total | 45,944 | 100.0 | 435 | 100.0 | 365 | 100.0 | |||
Source: Authors’ estimates from MEPS 2003–2015 linked to NHIS Sample Child Core 2001–2014.
ASD autism spectrum disorder; CI confidence interval; MEPS Medical Expenditure Panel Survey; NHIS National Health Interview Survey
a
MEPS person-level weights adjusted for non-response to the NHIS Sample Child Core questionnaire applied and then averaged over the pooled time period