Question

Prevalence of autism in children of Somali origin living in Stockholm: brief report of an at-risk population. Based on a study by Barnevik-Olsson M, Gillberg C, Fernell E: This work was a follow-up study (birth years 1999-2003) of the prevalence of autism in children of Somali background living in the county of Stockholm, Sweden. In a previous study (birth years 1988-98), the prevalence of autism associated with learning disability was found to be three to four times higher among Somali children compared with other ethnicities in Stockholm. We examined all records of children of Somali background, born from 1999 to 2003, registered at the centre for schoolchildren with autism and learning disability. The census day was 31 December 2009. The sample prevalence of autism and PDDNOS (with learning disability) was 0.98% (18/1836) in the Somali group compared with the 0.21% in the group of children of non-Somali origin.

• Do the data suggest a higher prevalence of autism in children of Somali background? (source: PMID:20964674 PubMed).
• In UK the prevalence of autism is 1%. Do the Swedish data suggest a higher autism prevalence in children of Somali background than UK the prevalence?

Answer 1