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Validity of Childhood Autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register: Findings from a Cohort Sample Born 1990–1999

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the diagnosis of childhood autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register (DPCR) by reviewing medical records from 499 of 504 total children with childhood autism born 1990–1999. Based on review of abstracted behaviors recorded in case records from child psychiatric hospitals, case status determination was performed using a standardized coding scheme. In 499 children diagnosed with childhood autism in the DPCR, the diagnosis could be confirmed in 469 children (94%). Of the 30 non-confirmed cases, five were classified by the reviewers as non-autistic cases and the remaining 25 cases were either classified with another ASD diagnosis or the specific diagnosis was not possible to determine.

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Acknowledgments

This research study was supported by CDC and National Alliances of Autism Research (Now Autism Speaks). We are grateful to thank all the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric hospitals in Denmark for making this study possible as they have provided us access to the medical records of cases. Nancy Doernberg and Catherine E. Rice, PhD both at CDC are thanked for their invaluable participation in the process of adapting their method used in the population-based surveillance of ASDs for the purpose of our study. We also wish to thank the technical support group at NANEA for their important help in the process of making the database in which all the case information is included, in particular project coordinator Annette Bang Rasmussen, secretary Maja Andersen, IT programmer Kim Kristensen, and student programmer Thu Hang Nguyen, NANEA, for data management and programming. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NANEA at Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

    Marlene B. Lauritsen, Sanne Lemcke, Susanne Toft, Jakob Grove & Poul Thorsen

  2. Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark

    Marlene B. Lauritsen, Meta Jørgensen & Susanne Toft

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

    Kreesten M. Madsen

  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Diana E. Schendel

Authors
  1. Marlene B. Lauritsen
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  2. Meta Jørgensen
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  3. Kreesten M. Madsen
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  4. Sanne Lemcke
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  5. Susanne Toft
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  6. Jakob Grove
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  7. Diana E. Schendel
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  8. Poul Thorsen
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Correspondence to Marlene B. Lauritsen.

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Lauritsen, M.B., Jørgensen, M., Madsen, K.M. et al. Validity of Childhood Autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register: Findings from a Cohort Sample Born 1990–1999. J Autism Dev Disord 40, 139–148 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0818-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0818-0

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