Autism diagnosis increase corresponds to more awareness

AORN Journal, March, 2005

An increased number of autism diagnoses may be due to improved awareness of the condition, changes in diagnostic criteria, and greater availability of educational services rather than immunizations or environmental factors, according to a Jan 3, 2005, news release from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Although there has been speculation during the past 20 years about a connection between immunization and autism, researchers found that an increased incidence of autism in one Minnesota county coincided with a broadening of diagnostic criteria for autism in 1987 and new federal special education laws that included autism as a disability category in 1991. Both of these changes occurred many years after immunizations were mandated for school children.

Using a database of inpatient and outpatient records, researchers determined that the incidence of autism in Olmsted County, Minn, appeared to be stable until 1988 to 1991, but it increased after the new laws and new diagnostic criteria were implemented. Before 1987, children with autism may have been given a less precise diagnosis, such as developmental delay or mental retardation, and children with mild symptoms may not have been identified at all.

Mayo Clinic Study Suggests No Link Between Autism and Immunizations (news release, Rochester, Minn: Mayo Clinic, Jan 3, 2005) http://www.mayoclinic.org/news20 05-rst/2551.html (accessed 6 Jan 2005).