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- Title
Ask the Editor.
- Authors
Fombonne, Eric
- Abstract
This article provides information about studies of mortality in autism. In one of the largest studies studied over 13,000 subjects with an autism diagnosis who were receiving services from the California Department of Development Services; 202 deaths occurred during the 1983-1997 observation period. The overall standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 2.4, indicating a mortality rate twice as high as that for the general population. Mortality was strongly associated with mental retardation with an SMR over 3 for subjects with moderate to profound mental retardation, whereas the SMR was 1.4 for subjects with no or only mild mental retardation. The findings, therefore, suggest that mortality rates are increased in autism and that the severely impaired subjects have the larger reduction in life expectancy.
- Publication
Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 2003, Vol 33, Issue 3, p361
- ISSN
0162-3257
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.1023/A:1024470920898