Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Venezuelan Children Attending An Outpatient Facility. A Preliminary Analysis

Background: Although the history of autism is short, the universality of this disorder was established very early in the road. However, little is known about autism in Latin American countries. Most Latin American countries lack the epidemiological indicators of child psychopathology. This scarcity of information has as direct consequences the absence or inadequacy of diagnostic and therapeutic services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Objectives: to determine the prevalence of ASD  for children between 5 and 7 years of age attending an outpatient pediatric facility in Maracaibo , Venezuela.
Methods:  All schools and health services in Maracaibo County (public and private clinics, pediatric hospitals, health centers, and treatment facilities) were contacted to ask for referral of all  children with a diagnosis or a probable diagnosis of an ASD.  SCQ was used as screening instrument, and positive children underwent a complete assessment that included ADI-R, ADOS-G, PPTV, and Raven. The denominator for calculation of the prevalence was estimated by using the 2005 Venezuelan national census for children born between 2001 and 2003 residents of Maracaibo County (122877 children) .
Results: A total of 132 children were identified as having a probable ASD diagnosis. From those children, only 128 completed the assessment.  65% received a diagnosis of autism (n=83), 21% of PDD-NOS (n=27), and 14% (n=18) did not meet the criteria for any of the ASD. The overall rate for all ASD was 6.75 per 10.000 children aged 5 through 7 years. The prevalence for autistic disorder was 6.76. per 10.000 children; while the prevalence rate for PDD-NOS and Asperger´s Syndrome combined was 2.19 per 10.000 children. The autism group had a mean age of 4.78 years (SD 1.94 years)  83% (n=69) boys and 17% girls (n=14); while the PDD-NOS were 77% (n= 21) boys and 23% girls (n=6), with a mean age of 4.43 years (SD 1.80 years)
Conclusions:  As we the previous Venezuelan study, the prevalence of ASD in Maracaibo County is similar to most other epidemiological studies, although it is in the lower end of such band.  Although a clinical sample, this study provides more evidence of the presence of the ASD in Latin American children. This rate might be an underestimation, and a function of the ascertainment process used in this study.