Epidemiology of Autism: Substantive Results and Methodological Issues
Abstract: Since the mid 1960’s, 165 prevalence surveys of autism were conducted worldwide and their main findings will first be summarized. While the contribution of genetic factors to autism etiology is high, the increase in autism prevalence has raised concerns about additional contribution of environmental factors. Autism risk has been statistically associated with myriads of exposures but, with few exceptions, the causal nature of these associations remains unproven. Estimates are often confounded and results do not replicate across samples and study designs. We review recent findings on select risk factors to illustrate current methodological issues relevant to this research domain.
Bio: Dr. Eric Fombonne trained in child and adolescent psychiatry in France. He held academic appointments at INSERM (Paris, France), at the Institute of Psychiatry (London, UK), at McGill University (Canada), and at OHSU (Portland, Oregon, USA). He has a long experience of clinical work with children with autism and their families, and of research on this population, especially using epidemiological methods. He published over 380 articles and 50 chapters in books. He was Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (1994-2004) and is currently Joint Editor of Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.