Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in Asia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

There has been an increased prevalence of the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) globally during the last decade. An updated and overall estimate of ASD prevalence in Asia would assist health professionals to develop relevant public health strategies. We performed a systematic review by searching English databases (Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochran Library) from inception date to August 6, 2018. Subgroup, sensitivity, and meta-regression analyses were performed to address heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated using Egger's test. A total of 2,195,497 subjects in Asia from 12 eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled estimate of ASD prevalence among the included subjects was 0.36% (95% CI: 0.16-0.79%). The pooled ASD prevalence in males (0.45%, 95% CI: 0.19-1.04%) was higher than that in females (0.18%, 95% CI: 0.079-0.49%). ASD prevalence in East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia was 0.51% (95% CI: 0.06-4.22%), 0.31% (95% CI: 0.14-0.65%), and 0.35% (95% CI: 0.07-1.80%) respectively. The prevalence of ASD is increasing in Asia. Universal and standardized diagnostic processes for ASD should be adopted for the prevention and control programs of ASD in future.