Analysis of Disparities in Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Military Health System Pediatrics Population.
Saved in:
| Title: | Analysis of Disparities in Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Military Health System Pediatrics Population. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Chikezie-Darron, Ocheze (AUTHOR), Sakai, Joshua (AUTHOR), Tolson, Daniel (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. Jun2026, Vol. 56 Issue 6, p2119-2125. 7p. |
| Subjects: | Diagnosis of autism, Cross-sectional method, Health services accessibility, Autism, Sex distribution, Kruskal-Wallis Test, Retrospective studies, Psychology of military personnel, Age distribution, Mann Whitney U Test, Descriptive statistics, Pediatrics, Medical records, Acquisition of data, Asperger's syndrome, Health equity, Military medicine, Confidence intervals, Nonparametric statistics |
| Geographic Terms: | United States |
| Abstract: | There have been disparities reported in prevalence of autism by gender, race, and socioeconomic status with older ages of diagnosis in non-White and in female children. Possible disparities in the ages of autism diagnosis are not well-established within the Military Health System (MHS) pediatric population, where we hypothesized less disparities given universal Tricare coverage for active-duty military families and theoretically equal access to the military treatment facility (MTF). We conducted retrospective cross-sectional analysis using deidentified database repository records from the MHS. We collected and analyzed demographic data on children covered by Tricare and newly diagnosed with autism within an MTF (N = 31,355) or outside of the MTF (5,579 respectively). Within the MTF, we identified younger ages of autism diagnosis in non-White children less than 18 years old (p < 2.2e−16), without significant differences in ages of diagnosis by race in children less than 6 years of age. There were no statistically significant differences in ages of diagnosis between males and females. Outside the MTF, we identified younger ages of autism diagnosis in males versus females with statistically significant difference in average ages of autism diagnosis between males and females less than the age of 18 years (p = 4.4e-08). This difference was not seen in children less than 6 years of age. Racial data was not available for diagnosis outside the MTF. The age of autism diagnosis in the military pediatric population within the MTF did not reflect historical disparities seen in non-White and in female children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | There have been disparities reported in prevalence of autism by gender, race, and socioeconomic status with older ages of diagnosis in non-White and in female children. Possible disparities in the ages of autism diagnosis are not well-established within the Military Health System (MHS) pediatric population, where we hypothesized less disparities given universal Tricare coverage for active-duty military families and theoretically equal access to the military treatment facility (MTF). We conducted retrospective cross-sectional analysis using deidentified database repository records from the MHS. We collected and analyzed demographic data on children covered by Tricare and newly diagnosed with autism within an MTF (N = 31,355) or outside of the MTF (5,579 respectively). Within the MTF, we identified younger ages of autism diagnosis in non-White children less than 18 years old (p < 2.2e−16), without significant differences in ages of diagnosis by race in children less than 6 years of age. There were no statistically significant differences in ages of diagnosis between males and females. Outside the MTF, we identified younger ages of autism diagnosis in males versus females with statistically significant difference in average ages of autism diagnosis between males and females less than the age of 18 years (p = 4.4e-08). This difference was not seen in children less than 6 years of age. Racial data was not available for diagnosis outside the MTF. The age of autism diagnosis in the military pediatric population within the MTF did not reflect historical disparities seen in non-White and in female children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 01623257 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10803-024-06703-w |
