Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in mainland china over the past 6 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background Coupled with its rising prevalence, Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become a globally recognized public health concern. Nevertheless, large-scale, multicenter studies that analyze the epidemiology of ASD in China are relatively scarce. Methods Literature searches were conducted in PubMed/Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, China Biology Medicine database (CBM), China Science and Technology Journal Database (CSTJ), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) to retrieve studies published before April 8, 2023, related to ASD prevalence among children aged 0 to 14 years in mainland China. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.2 and Stata 14.0. Results Twenty-one articles were included. The ASD prevalence among children in mainland China has been 0.7% (95% confidence interval(CI): 0.006–0.008) since 2017. The prevalence of ASD among boys was 1.0% (95% CI: 0.008–0.011), which was significantly higher than that among girls at 0.2% (95% CI: 0.002–0.003), with a statistically significant difference (OR = 3.198, 95% CI: 2.489–4.109, P = 0.000). Among the included studies, 18 reported an ASD prevalence of 0.8% (95% CI: 0.007–0.010), while 3 studies reported an autistic disorder (AD) prevalence of 0.7% (95% CI: 0.006–0.008). The prevalence of autism among urban children was 23.9% (95% CI: 0.149–0.328), and in rural areas, it was 0.7% (95% CI: 0.002–0.013), with no statistically significant difference (OR = 1.342, 95% CI: 0.258–6.975, P = 0.727). Regression analysis showed that factors such as region (P = 0.000), age (P = 0.000), study period (P = 0.000), sample size (P = 0.000), sampling method (P = 0.002), population source (P = 0.000), disease type (P = 0.000), quality score of the study (P = 0.000), and diagnostic criteria (P = 0.000) might have contributed to the heterogeneity in ASD prevalence. Conclusion The prevalence of ASD in China from 2017 to 2023 was 7/1000, showing an upward trend compared to that before 2017 (26.50/10,000). The male-to-female prevalence ratio was 5:1.The overall prevalence remained significantly lower than that reported in foreign countries.