Table 4 Characteristics of 1781 Children with Autism over five year intervals
From: Validation of the diagnosis of autism in general practitioner records
| Â | Age interval | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | 73 – 77 | 78 – 82 | 83 – 87 | 88 – 92 | 93 – 97 | P (for trend) | |||||
| Â | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | Â |
Male Sex | 8 | 72.7 | 12 | 80.0 | 32 | 74.4 | 55 | 80.9 | 38 | 92.7 | .058 |
Past or current epilepsy2 | 4 | 36.4 | 4 | 26.7 | 5 | 11.6 | 11 | 16.2 | 4 | 9.8 | .046 |
Phrase speech | 3 | 27.3 | 10 | 66.7 | 19 | 47.5 | 24 | 35.8 | 10 | 24.4 | .044 |
Normal/mild moderate Functioning | 4 | 36.4 | 9 | 60.0 | 30 | 75.0 | 45 | 71.4 | 31 | 86.1 | .003 |
Age of parental recognition <24 months | 8 | 80.0 | 9 | 81.8 | 30 | 85.7 | 47 | 88.7 | 34 | 91.9 | .198 |
Regression | 3 | 27.3 | 3 | 20.0 | 12 | 27.9 | 12 | 17.6 | 13 | 31.7 | .789 |
Probable/definite Language delay3 | 9 | 81.8 | 11 | 91.7 | 41 | 100.0 | 62 | 96.9 | 38 | 97.4 | .069 |
DSM-IV Symptoms: | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   –Mean | 6.91 |  | 6.00 |  | 8.16 |  | 7.62 |  | 8.29 |  | .127 |
   –SD | 4.13 |  | 3.70 |  | 4.48 |  | 3.19 |  | 4.24 |  |  |