Table 1.
Autistic participant demographics.a
| Demographics | Nos. of studies in which the demographic breakdowns were reported | Categories | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | 29 (n = 2234) | Male | n = 1172 (52%) |
| Female | n = 982 (44%) | ||
| Other gender identitiesb | n = 68 (3%) | ||
| Not reported | n = 12 (1%) | ||
| Age (years) | 25 (n = 2260) | Range | 14–80 |
| 22 (n = 1688) | Median of the mean | 29.6 | |
| Intellectual and communicative abilitiesc | 8 (n = 471) | Please refer to the Supplementary Appendix E for details. | |
| Co-occurring diagnosesd | 3 (n = 175) | Mood disorders | n = 51 (29%) |
| Anxiety | n = 26 (15%) | ||
| Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) | n = 26 (15%) | ||
| Living situationd | 15 (n = 1587) | Living with parents, family members or caregivers | n = 843 (53%) |
| Living independently (alone, with a partner or with roommates) | n = 614 (39%) | ||
| Living in other situations (e.g. supported housing, community home) | n = 111 (7%) | ||
| Employment statusd | 12 (n = 1268) | Unemployed (unable to work, retired, volunteer, living on disability allowance) | n = 670 (53%) |
| Employed (full-time, part-time, self-employed, student or carer) | n = 547 (43%) | ||
| Highest level of educationd | 16 (n = 1552) | University qualifications or above | n = 296 (19%) |
| High school level qualifications or below | n = 196 (13%) | ||
| Currently in higher education | n = 175 (11%) | ||
| A certificate, diploma, associate’s degree or higher vocational education | n = 97 (6%) | ||
| Race | 10 (n = 1194) | Caucasian | n = 921 (77%) |
| Other ethnic groups (e.g. Asian, Black, Hispanic) | n = 273 (23%) | ||
Note: numbers do not add up to total due to rounding/missing data.
Other gender identities were included in three recent studies: Cage et al. (2018, n = 15, 14% of the study sample), Ee et al. (2019, n = 10, 5% of the study sample), Hull et al. (2017, n = 7, 8% of the study sample), Jackson et al. (2018, n = 4, 7% of the study sample) and Levinson (2020, n = 32, 26% of the study sample).
The data are not showed in this category because the measures used to assess the intellectual and communicative abilities are varied in all four studies where the data on this were reported, and additionally, where the data were reported, the measures used to assess only the general descriptions on the intellectual and communicative abilities of their participants were reported in the other four studies.