Socioeconomic Inequality in the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence from a U.S. Cross-Sectional Study

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011551

From:

PLoS One. 2010; 5(7): e11551.

Published online 2010 July 12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011551

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Table 3

Prevalence (95% CI^a) of ASD per 1,000 8-Year-Olds and Ratios of ASD Prevalence by SES^b, Stratified by Race/Ethnicity^c.

		Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black	Hispanic	Asian
Prevalence (95% CI)	Overall	6.9 (6.6, 7.3)	5.7 (5.3, 6.0)	5.1 (4.5, 5.7)	7.6 (6.1, 9.1)
	Low SES	5.7 (5.0, 6.4)	4.1 (3.7, 4.6)	4.0 (3.2, 4.8)	3.9 (1.6, 6.3)
	Medium SES	6.5 (6.0, 7.0)	6.8 (6.0, 7.6)	5.4 (4.3, 6.5)	6.0 (3.7, 8.3)
	High SES	7.7 (7.2, 8.1)	9.8 (8.4, 11.2)	7.5 (5.9, 9.2)	10.7 (7.9, 13.4)
	χ² p-value	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0011
	trend test p-value	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0003
Prevalence Ratio (95% CI)	Low SES	0.88 (0.77, 1.02)	0.61 (0.52, 0.70)	0.74 (0.56, 0.97)	0.66 (0.33, 1.34)
	Medium SES	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
	High SES	1.18 (1.08, 1.30)	1.44 (1.21, 1.71)	1.40 (1.04, 1.89)	1.80 (1.13, 2.85)

^aCI

confidence interval.

^bSocioeconomic Status (SES) is indicated by the percentage of families with incomes above the federal poverty level who had children in the census block group of the index child, divided into population SES tertiles.

^cThe following differences in prevalence between ethnic group were statistically significant at p<0.05:

Overall: Non-Hispanic White versus Non-Hispanic Black; Non-Hispanic White versus Hispanic; Non-Hispanic Black versus Asian; and Hispanic versus Asian. In addition, the overall prevalence of ASD differs at p<0.05 across race/ethnic groups.

Low SES: Non-Hispanic White versus Non-Hispanic Black; Non-Hispanic White versus Hispanic; and Non_Hispanic White versus Asian. In addition, within the low SES stratum, the prevalence of ASD differs at p<0.05 across race/ethnic groups.

Medium SES: Non-Hispanic Black versus Hispanic.

High SES: Non-Hispanic White versus Non-Hispanic Black; Non-Hispanic White versus Asian; and Hispanic versus Asian. In addition, within the high SES stratum, the prevalence of ASD differs at p<0.05 across race/ethnic groups.