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CDC study reports certain developmental disabilities on the rise

Boyle C. Pediatrics. 2011;doi:10.1542/peds.2010-2989.

Advances in classifying developmental disabilities, as well as increases in services, have led to increases in the number of children diagnosed with these disabilities, according to a study published online this week.

Coleen A. Boyle, PhD, and colleagues from the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC said between 2006 and 2008, nearly one in six children had a reported developmental disability such as autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

CDC researchers looked at data from approximately 119,000 children enrolled in the 1997-2008 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) to examine the prevalence of developmental disabilities.

The researchers said the median prevalence of any developmental disability in that time period was about 14%, with most of the increases in ADHD and autism diagnoses. The overall prevalence increased from 12.84% to 15.04%.

Advances in classifying these disorders, as well as improvements in identifying them, contributed to the growing numbers of developmental disabilities, the researchers said, adding that this decade has seen an increase in other risk factors for developmental disabilities, including increased preterm births, older parental age and the use of hormonal infertility treatments.

“Additional study of the influence of risk-factor shifts, changes in acceptance and benefits of early services is needed,” they concluded.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.

This striking rise in prevalence of the developmental disabilities can be attributed to both improved public health surveillance and improvements in maternal-child health care. This wide spectrum of disabilities, from mild to severe, will require increasing time, attention and expertise from pediatric health care providers in the next decade.

-Paul H. Lipkin, MD
Infectious Diseases in Children Editorial Board member

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