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Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
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Time trends in reported diagnoses of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders: a Danish cohort study

Hjördís Osk Atladóttir1, Erik T Parner, Diana Schendel

  • 1North Atlantic Neuro-Epidemiology Alliances at Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. hoa@soci.au.dk

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
|February 7, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Increases in autism diagnoses are not unique, paralleling trends in other childhood neurodevelopmental disorders like hyperkinetic disorder and Tourette syndrome. This suggests a broader epidemiological shift in diagnosis and service demand.

Area of Science:

  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Epidemiology
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and childhood autism diagnoses have increased.
  • Trends in other childhood neuropsychiatric disorders require examination for context.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate trends in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and childhood autism.
  • To compare these trends with hyperkinetic disorder, Tourette syndrome, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Main Methods:

  • Population-based cohort study of 669,995 children born in Denmark (1990-1999).
  • Data linkage between the Danish Medical Birth Registry and the Danish National Psychiatric Register through 2004.
  • Analysis of cumulative incidence proportion by age, stratified by birth year, using ICD-10 criteria.

Main Results:

  • Statistically significant increases in cumulative incidence observed for ASD, childhood autism, hyperkinetic disorder, and Tourette syndrome.
  • No significant change in cumulative incidence was found for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  • A common pattern of increasing incidence was noted across several neurodevelopmental disorders.

Conclusions:

  • Rising reported autism diagnoses may reflect a wider epidemiological phenomenon affecting multiple childhood neuropsychiatric disorders.
  • The observed pattern suggests increased awareness and demand for services for neurodevelopmental disorders in general.
  • Further research is needed to determine the underlying causes of these shared epidemiological trends.
Abstract

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