Co-occurring Conditions
Features of neurodiversity can be highly variable and complex due to underlying genetic contributors, medical concerns, and psychological diagnoses. As such, neurodivergent individuals can (and do) often experience co-occuring conditions, including autism, Fragile X syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, intellectual disability, schizophrenia, epilepsy, functional neurological disorder, gastrointestinal (stomach) issues, and susceptibility to infections [1, 2].
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Salehi et al. [1] examined data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) which collected data on children/youth aged 3-17 years for the years 2020–2021. The dataset consisting of 93,669 participants, of which 2,568 individuals (or 3.2%) had a confirmed current diagnosis of autism. They found that 96.4% of youth with autism had at least one co-occurring condition:
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The most common psychological co-occurring diagnoses were developmental delay (64%), then behavioral and conduct problems (57.8%) and anxiety problems (45.7%); see blue arrows in Figure 1 below
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The most common medical co-occurring diagnoses were allergies (32.4%), genetic disorders (26.2%), and asthma (12.6%); see blue arrows in Figure 2 below
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The odds of co-occurring vision problems, cerebral palsy, frequent/severe headaches, epilepsy, depression, and intellectual impairment were significantly greater in females than males, whereas ADHD and anxiety were significantly lower among females with autism [1]
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Lori's note: These statistics and graphs are likely a snippet of reality. These data are heavily weighted to include autistic individuals who were diagnosed in childhood and adolescence. As such, these data may not be representative of autistic individuals who were not diagnosed until adulthood and/or fit a phenotype of autism that has recently been identified as a "female" presentation/ autism that would not have nicely fit into the diagnostic criteria from DSM I - III.
Figure 1: Psychological Conditions
Green bars represent youth (3-17) who are diagnosed with autism and red bars represent youth that are not diagnosed with autism
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Figure 2. Medical Conditions
Green bars represent youth (3-17) who are diagnosed with autism and red bars represent youth that are not diagnosed with autism
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For more information on each co-occurring condition, click one of the following
References
1. Mona Salehi, M., Ahmad, A., Lot, A., & Gunturu, S. (2024). Characteristics and co-morbidities of Autism Spectrum Disorder as risk factors for severity: A national survey in the United States. Research Square, preprint. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3921934/v1
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