New Guidelines Decrease Diagnosis for Autism by 31 Percent

New guidelines issued by the American Psychiatric Association may result in one-third reduction in diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study.

The American Psychiatric Association released new guidelines in May 2013, which may leave a majority of children with the developmental disorder out of the ASD diagnosis. This will disqualify them from receiving social services and medical benefits, and educational support.

Researchers from the University Of Columbia School Of Nursing used data from the association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders to review the changes in the number of ASD diagnosis.

The association's old manual gave three sub-classification for ASD- autistic disorder (AD), Asperger's disorder, and pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). The new manual rules out all three types and recommends diagnosis only if individuals previously had one of its sub-types. The recent manual also adds a new criteria called social communication disorder (SCD) to diagnose the conditions among those with defective verbal communication, abnormal body language, eye contact and behavioral skills. Individuals diagnosed with PDD-NOS in the previous guidelines are identified as those with SCD, according the new manual.

The comparison of the recent manual with its previous version revealed a 31 percent reduction in the ASD diagnosis and 22 percent decrease in AD diagnosis. The diagnosis of PDD-NOS also dropped by 70 percent while, the diagnosis rates for Asperger's disorder did not suffer any abrupt change. The new reports also suggest that individuals who were not confirmed with ASD will fail to meet the criteria for SCD.

Kristine M. Kulage, director of the Office of Scholarship and Research Development at Columbia Nursing, said in press statement, "This study raises a concern that a medical provider diagnosing a child under the new guidelines won't find the child to be on the autism spectrum, when the same child under the old criteria might have been diagnosed with ASD."

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, nearly one out of every 88 children is identified with ASD. Environment and genetics are some of the factors identified as causing multiple types of ASD. Therefore, experts suggest in-depth evaluation and early intervention by healthcare specialists to help children develop basic skills like walking, talking and social interaction.

The authors in this study warn that irregularities in the new guidelines might mislead and delay the diagnosis and treatment for children with developmental disorders who are entitled to receive social and healthcare benefits.

The research is published in the journal Autism and Developmental Disorders.