(UK) 10-fold increase in autism over 10 yrs possibly due to over diagnosing of adults
AUTISM diagnoses have risen 10-fold in the last decade or so, prompting fears of ‘overdiagnosis’.
But alongside the surge in cases, researchers have noticed a change in characteristics in people with the neurodevelopmental condition.
Since 2010, UK adults with autism are increasingly being diagnosed with conditions such as ADHD, anxiety and eating disorders, new research has suggested.
Prior to that, autistic adults were more often diagnosed with conditions such as epilepsy and intellectual disability.
Researchers analysed data from the UK and Sweden, and wrote in the journal BMJ Mental Health that “autism diagnoses have risen consistently over time”.
In the UK, rates of new diagnoses increased from six per 100,000 people in 2010 to 64 per 100,000 in 2023.
They also found a rapid rise in autism diagnoses among 16 to 20-year-olds since 2010 in the UK, alongside a rise in women and white people, compared to other ethnicities.
“Over time, there has been a consistent decline in the proportion of autistic adults with a prior diagnosis of epilepsy, psychosis and intellectual disability,” researchers observed.
This has coincided with “an increase in the proportion with a prior diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression and several other mental illnesses”.
Overall, autism rose in people who had been previously diagnosed with anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, ADHD, stress-related disorders, eating disorders, headaches and chronic fatigue.
Rises were also seen in people using antidepressants, melatonin (for sleeplessness), opioids and gabapentin (a drug for epilepsy and nerve pain).
The team, including experts from the University of Bristol and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, said conditions like ADHD and anxiety have risen in adults without autism – so “we can expect autistic adults to also be subject to these temporal trends,” they said.
Changes to diagnostic manuals may mean people with other mental health conditions are now being diagnosed with autism. . . .
But other conditions may also be “misidentified as autism”, the study team added.
Prof Dame Uta Frith, emeritus professor of cognitive development at UCL, who wasn’t involved in the research, said the shift in co-occurring conditions among people with autism could be linked to when people were diagnosed.
“The results provide further evidence of a split between early and late diagnosed autism,” she stated.
“Cases with early diagnosed autism are linked with neurological signs, such as epilepsy and cognitive impairments.
“Cases with late-diagnosed autism are instead linked with prior mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression.
“It is precisely this group that accounts for the increase.”
She added that “cultural changes in the meaning and use of the autism label, rather than biological changes,” may also be playing a role.
Around 700,000 people in the UK are believed to have autism – a lifelong condition that affects how they experience and interact with the wider world.
Features include difficulties with communication and interaction, repetitive behaviours or limited interests. It can also affect learning and development.
There are those who suggest autism – as well as ADHD – is being overdiagnosed in the UK. . . .
A major Government-commissioned review warned England is reaching “tipping point”, where people risk being wrongly told they have either of the two conditions.
It claimed ordinary, healthy, life experiences are being turned into medical problems, with Prof Sir Simon Wessely, of King’s College London, claiming this could “harm” children – making them believe they were incapable of doing something they might actually be able to do. . . .
The researchers said the findings on women “may indicate an improved recognition of female presentations of autism, including the use of masking and camouflaging behaviours, addressing historic underdiagnosis”.
Dr Monique Botha, associate professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University, who wasn’t involved in the research, pointed out that previous studies show that autistic adults are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. . . .
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