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Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism
Published on: October 3, 2018
Current situation and influencing factors of Chinese children's diagnosis delay in autism
Feng-Lei Zhu1, Yue Ji2, Lu Wang2
1Child Developmental and Behavioral Center, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat- sen University, Guangzhou, China. zhuflei3@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Background:
Although experienced clinicians are capable of diagnosing autism in children before they reach the age of 2, the average age of diagnosis reported internationally is between 4 and 5 years, indicating a significant delay. This study aimed to determine the factors influencing the diagnostic delay time (DDT) in Chinese autistic children.
Methods:
We employed the Cox proportional hazard model to examine the effects of individual, family, sociodemographic, and healthcare system indicators on DDT in 480 Chinese autistic children (age range: 16.10-190.16 months; male-to-female ratio: 5.67:1) recruited from a tertiary hospital between 2021 and 2023.
Results:
The median DDT was 9.58 months (IQR = 15.01). Independent risk factors for delayed diagnosis included normal language competence (RR = 1.747, p < 0.001), non-core symptoms as first concerns (RR = 1.642, p = 0.013), school attendance (RR = 1.941, p < 0.001), irregular well-child visits (RR = 1.264, p = 0.028), and misdiagnosis history (RR = 0.648, p = 0.001).
Conclusions:
Diagnosis delay in Chinese autistic children is heterogeneous. Early monitoring for children with normal language skills and school-aged children, alongside improved healthcare system practices, is critical.
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