Prevalence of intellectual disability as a comorbidity of autism spectrum disorder in patients with multidisciplinary examination at the specialized learning center (NEA) of Faculdade de Medicina do ABC

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by clinically significant and persistent deficits in communication and social interactions associated with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests and activities¹. ASD can be associated with several comorbidities, including Intellectual Disability, ADHD, anxiety, depression, epilepsy and sleep disorders ². In the context of ASD comorbidities, intellectual disability (ID) is among those whose presence is directly related to the level of support of patients, and its assessment is important from the point of view of functionality of each individual. According to data from the CDC³, 35.2% of ASD patients with cognitive examination data were classified as having ID. Overall, the proportions of this comorbidity in girls and boys were similar (35.6% and 35.1%, respectively).

Objective: Assessing the total prevalence of ID as a comorbidity of ASD and compare the prevalence of this comorbidity in male and female patients.

Methods: Data from the medical records of a sample of patients who underwent a multidisciplinary examination at the Specialized Learning Center (NEA) of the Faculdade de Medicina do ABC (FMABC) were used. The sample consists of 1321 patients who underwent cognitive examination. We analyzed the prevalence data of patients diagnosed with ASD in the sample and, in these, ID as a comorbidity, as well as the proportion between male and female patients. Diagnoses made before the 2013 DSM-V, which included Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger Syndrome, were discarded.

Results: The sample had 28 patients with ASD, 7 of whom had ID as a comorbidity (25%). In the group of girls (n= 4) 1 had ID (25%) and in the group of boys (n= 24) 6 had this comorbidity (25%).

Conclusions: The prevalence of ID as an ASD comorbidity in the sample presented was slightly lower than that observed in previous data in the literature. However, there were no significant differences in the proportions of this comorbidity between girls and boys, which corroborates the hypothesis that the prevalence of ID in patients with ASD is similar in both genders.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
18 September 2023