Validation of the diagnosis of autism in general practitioner records

BMC Public Health

Table 3 Autistic Children with or without Regression (N = 179¹)

			Regression
			No (N = 136)		Yes (N = 43)		P
			N	%	N	%
Male Sex			114	83.8	32	74.4	.166
Birth year	1973 – 1977		8	5.9	3	7.0	.789(trend)
	1978 – 1982		12	8.9	3	7.0
	1983 – 1987		31	23.0	12	27.9
	1988 – 1992		56	41.5	12	27.9
	1993 – 1997		28	20.7	13	30.2
Past or current epilepsy			21	15.4	7	16.3	.895
Overall level of language²	Mute		21	15.9	10	23.3	.065 (trend)
	Single words		27	20.5	11	25.6
	Few phrases		28	21.2	11	25.6
	Phrase speech		56	42.4	11	25.6
Estimated intellectual functioning	Normal IQ		35	27.8	7	17.5	.054 (trend)
	Mild MR		61	48.4	17	42.5
	Moderate MR		22	17.5	12	30.0
	Severe MR		8	6.3	4	10.0
Age of parental recognition (months)	0 – 12		45	43.3	15	35.7	.897 (trend)
	13 – 24		45	43.3	23	54.8
	25 – 36		12	11.5	4	9.5
	36+		2	1.9	-	-
Language delay	Yes probable/definite		122	97.6	40	93.0	.163
	Regression
	No (N = 136)			Yes (N = 43)			P
	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD
Age at first GPRD diagnosis (years)	127	5.39	4.01	40	5.63	4.29	.746
Age at first letter (years)	133	3.66	2.75	41	2.76	1.02	.002
Age at last report on note (years)	134	10.61	5.65	42	10.15	5.56	.646
Mean number of DSM-IV PDD symptoms
–Total	136	7.51	3.94	43	8.35	3.67	.221
–Language/communication	136	2.08	1.43	43	2.37	1.29	.236
–Social interaction	136	3.04	1.66	43	3.14	2.02	.738
–Repetitive behaviours	136	2.40	1.73	43	2.84	1.68	.144

¹: Autism children only. One child had no information about regression. ²: Mean age when language was recorded was: 7.65 years (SD: 4.39).

ISSN: 1471-2458