Autism Spectrum Disorders in Adults Living in Households in England | findings

A report from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007

Sep 2009 |
Topic | Health & Lifestyle
Researcher | Sally McManus

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are developmental disorders characterised by widespread abnormalities of social interaction and communication, as well as severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behaviours.  As with other mental and behavioural disorders, they probably exist on a continuum.

Presence of ASD can have a negative impact on learning and, at the more severe end of the spectrum, on the ability to live independently in adulthood. ASDs are more common in the learning disabled population, and a sample of private households of this kind is likely to under-represent adults with the condition, who are more likely to be living in a communal or institutional setting. Moreover, adults with severe functional impairment who do live in private households may be less able (or willing) to respond to surveys.

Despite this, some of our key findings were:

  1. The overall prevalence of ASD in adults in England was estimated to be 1.0%.
  2. Presence of ASD was associated with a lower level of educational achievement and living in social housing.
  3. People who have never been married were more likley to have ASD.
  4. Although our sample was small, there was little evidence of any increased use of health, social or treatment services by this group.
The overall prevalence of ASD in adults in England was estimated to be 1.0%.

The ASD prevalence rate was higher in men (1.8 per cent) than women (0.2 per cent). This fits with the profile found in childhood population studies. There was no association with age, suggesting that the data provide no support for there being an increase in prevalence in recent decades.

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Presence of ASD was associated with a lower level of educational achievement and living in social housing.

Prevalence of ASD was associated with educational qualification and predicted verbal IQ. The rate was lowest among those with a degree level qualification and highest among those with no qualifications.

Likelihood of a positive assessment for ASD also varied with the tenure status of people's homes. Those living in accommodation which was rented from a social landlord were the most likely to have ASD.

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People who have never been married were more likley to have ASD.

People who were single (and had never been married) were more likely to be identified with ASD than people of other marital statuses combined (i.e. those who were either currently married or cohabiting or who had been married in the past).

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Although our sample was small, there was little evidence of any increased use of health, social or treatment services by this group.

While our data did not demonstrate that adults with ASD are more likely to be receiving state financial benefits than adults without ASD, it did indicate that people with ASD are less likely to know the answer to this and other similar questions.

This is in line with the clinical observation that many are ill equipped to manage their own finances. There was also no evidence of any increased use of services among those with ASD.

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