Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of Autism in Iceland

  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This clinic-based study estimated the prevalence of autism in Iceland in two consecutive birth cohorts, subjects born in 1974-1983 and in 1984-1993. In the older cohort classification was based on the ICD-9 in 72% of cases while in the younger cohort 89% of cases were classified according to the ICD-10. Estimated prevalence rates for Infantile autism/Childhood autism were 3.8 per 10,000 in the older cohort and 8.6 per 10,000 in the younger cohort. The characteristics of the autistic groups are presented in terms of level of intelligence, male:female ratio, and age at diagnosis. For the younger cohort scores on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale are reported as well. Results are compared with a previous Icelandic study and recent population-based studies in other countries based on the ICD-10 classification system. Methodological issues are discussed as well as implications for future research and service delivery.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, G. (1952). Manual for the Arthur Adaptation of the Leiter International Performance Scale. Washington, DC: Psychological Service Center Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arvidsson, T., Danielsson, B., Forsberg, P., Gillberg, C., Johansson, M., & Kjellgren, G. (1997). Autism in 3-6-year-old children in a suburb of Göteborg, Sweden. Autism, 1, 163-173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey A., Philips, W., & Rutter, M. (1996). Autism: Towards an integration of clinical, genetic, neuropsychological and neurobiological perspectives. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 89-126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayley, N. (1969). Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. New York: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayley, N. (1993). Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (2nd ed.). New York: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjarnason, O., Bjarnason, V., Edwards, J. H., Fridriksson, S., Magnusson, M., Mourant, A. E., & Tills, D. (1973). The blood groups of Icelanders. Annals of Human Genetics, 36, 425-455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bristol, M. M., Cohen, D. J., Costello, E. J., Denckla, M., Eckberg, T. J., Kallen, R., Kraemer, H. C., Lord, C., Maurer, R., McIlvane, W. J., Minshew, N., Sigman, M., & Spence, M. A. (1996). State of the science in autism: Report to the National Institutes of Health. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 121-157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, S., Clark, B. S., & Smith, I. M. (1988). First report of a Canadian epidemiological study of autistic syndromes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 433-445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, S. E., & Smith, I. M. (1998). Epidemiology of autism: Prevalence, associated characteristics, and implications for research and service delivery. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 4, 97-103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burd, L., Fisher, W., & Kerbeshian, J. (1987). A prevalence study of pervasive developmental disorders in North Dakota. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 704-710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creak, E. M. (1961). Schizophrenic syndrome in childhood. Progress report of a working party. British Medical Journal, 2, 889-890.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsdóttir, A. V., & Haraldsdóttir, G. (1992). Réttmætis-og áreiýanleikaathugun á Greiningarkvarýa fyrir barnaeinhverfu (CARS) [Study of the reliability and validity of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)]. Unpublished B.A. thesis, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombonne, E. (1996). Is the prevalence of autism increasing? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 673-676.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombonne, E. (1998). Epidemiological surveys of autism. In F. R. Volkmar (Ed.), Autism and pervasive developmental disorders (pp. 32-63). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombonne, E., & du Mazaubrun, C. (1992). Prevalence of infantile autism in four French regions. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 27, 203-210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombonne, E., du Mazaubrun, C., Cans, C., & Grandjean, H. (1997). Autism and associated medical disorders in a French epidemiological survey. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1561-1569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillberg, C. (1989). The borderland of autism and Rett syndrome: Five case histories to highlight diagnostic difficulties. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 545-559.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillberg, C. (1995). The prevalence of autism and autism spectrum disorders. In F. C. Verhulst & H. M. Koot (Eds.), The epidemiology of child and adolescent psychopathology (pp. 227-257). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillberg, C., & Coleman, M. (1996). Autism and medical disorders: A review of the literature. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 38, 191-202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillberg, C., Steffenburg, S., & Schaumann, H. (1991). Is autism more common now than ten years ago? British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 403-409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagberg, B. (1995). Rett syndrome: Clinical peculiarities and biological mysteries. Acta Paediatrica, 84, 971-976.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagberg, B., & Hagberg, G. (1997). Rett syndrome: epidemiology and geographical variability. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 6, 5-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagberg, B. A., & Skjeldal, O. H. (1994). Rett variants: A suggested model for inclusion criteria. Pediatric Neurology, 11, 5-11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannibalsson, A. (1971). Greindarpróf Wechslers handa börnum [Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children]. Reykjavik, Iceland: Reykjavik Primary Health Care Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Honda, H, Shimizu, Y., Misumi, K., Niimi, M., & Ohashi, Y. (1996). Cumulative incidence and prevalence of childhood autism in children in Japan. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 228-235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorde, L. B., Eriksson, A. W., Morgan, K., & Workman, P. L. (1982). The genetic structure of Iceland. Human Heredity, 32, 1-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kent, L., Evans, J., Paul, M., & Sharp, M. (1999). Comorbidity of autistic spectrum disorders in children with Down syndrome. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 41, 153-158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Couteur, A., Rutter, M., Lord, C., Rios, P., Robertson, S., Holdgrafer, M., & McLennan, J. (1989). Autism Diagnostic Interview: A standardized investigator-based instrument. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 363-387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, M. N. (1982). Leiter International Performance Scale: A Handbook. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C. (1995). Follow-up of two-year-olds referred for possible autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 1365-1382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 659-685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., & Schopler, E. (1989). The role of age at assessment, developmental level, and test in the stability of intelligence scores in young autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 483-499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Storoschuk, S., Rutter, M., & Pickles, A. (1993). Using the ADI-R to diagnose autism in preschool children. Infant Mental Health Journal, 14, 234-252.

    Google Scholar 

  • MagnÚsson, G. T. (1977). Athugun á geýveikum börnum á Íslandi: Börn fædd 1964-1973 [An investigation of psychotic children in Iceland: Children born 1964-1973]. Læknablaýiý, 63, 237-243.

    Google Scholar 

  • MagnÚsson, P., & Gunnarsdóttir, K. (1994). The epidemiology of autism and Asperger syndrome in Iceland: A summary of a pilot study. Arctic Medical Research, 53 (Suppl. 2), 464-466.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordin, V., & Gillberg, C. (1996). Autism spectrum disorders in children with physical or mental disability or both. I: Clinical and epidemiological aspects. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 38, 297-313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1989). Annotation: Child psychiatric disorders in ICD-10. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 499-513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M., Bailey, A., Bolton, P., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism and known medical conditions: Myth and substance. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 311-322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M., Shaffer, D., & Sturge, C. (1975). A guide to a multiaxial classification scheme for psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. London: Institute of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., & Renner, B. R. (1988). The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sponheim, E. (1996). Changing criteria of autistic disorders: A comparison of the ICD-10 research criteria and DSM-IV with DSMIII-R, CARS, and ABC. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 513-525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sponheim, E., & Skjeldal, O. (1998). Autism and related disorders: Epidemiological findings in a Norwegian study using ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28, 217-227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Iceland. (1998). Landshagir. Reykjavik: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Iceland. (1999). Leikskólar 1997. Reykjavik: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinhausen, H. C., & Erdin, A. (1991). A comparison of ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnoses of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 909-920.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, W. L., Lee, E. B., Ashford, L., Brissie, J., Hepburn, S. L., Coonrod, E. E., & Weiss, B. H. (1999). Can autism be diagnosed accurately in children under 3 years? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 219-226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sæmundsen, E., MagnÚsson, P., & Smári, J. (1999). The concomitant use of the ADI-R and the CARS in the diagnosis of autism. Manuscript in preparation.

  • Tanguay, P. E., Robertson, J., & Derrick, A. (1998). A dimensional classification of autism spectrum disorder by social communication domains. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 271-277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorarinsson, S. (1968). Iceland. In A. Sømme (Ed.), A Geography of Norden (pp. 204-234). Oslo: J. W. Cappelens Forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkmar, F. R., Cicchetti, D. V., Bregman, J., & Cohen, D. J. (1992). Three diagnostic systems for autism: DSM-III, DSM-IIIR and ICD-10. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 483-492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkmar, F. R., Klin, A., Siegel, B., Szatmari, P., Lord, C., Campbell, M., Freeman, B. J., Chicchetti, D. V., Rutter, M., Kline, W., Buitelaar, J., Hattab, Y., Fombonne, E., Fuentes, J., Werry, J., Stone, W., Kerbeshian, J., Hoshino, Y., Bregman, J., Loveland, K., Szymansky, L., & Towbin, K. (1994). Field trial for autistic disorder in DSM-IV. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1361-1367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkmar, F. R., Szatmari, P., & Sparrow, S. S. (1993). Sex differences in pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23, 579-591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1949). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. New York: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1967). Manual for the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. New York: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1989). Manual for the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wing, L. (1993). The definition and prevalence of autism: A review. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2, 61-74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wing, L. (1996). Autistic spectrum disorders: no evidence for or against an increase in prevalence. British Medical Journal, 312, 327-328.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1978). International classification of diseases (9th ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1992). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1993). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Diagnostic criteria for research. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zappella, M., Gillberg, C., & Ehlers, S. (1998). The preserved speech variant: A subgroup of the Rett complex: A clinical report of 30 cases. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28, 519-526.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National University Hospital, Iceland

    Páll Magnússon

  2. State Diagnostic and Counseling Center, Kópavogur, Iceland

    Evald Saemundsen

Authors
  1. Páll Magnússon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Evald Saemundsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Magnússon, P., Saemundsen, E. Prevalence of Autism in Iceland. J Autism Dev Disord 31, 153–163 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010795014548

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010795014548

Search

Navigation