Recent rise in autism mostly driven by women and girls getting diagnosed

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-07-23 01:00

International

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

A rise in the number of autism spectrum diagnoses in the US over the last decade can be mostly attributed to more women and girls getting diagnosed, according to international research. The team used data from a large US healthcare system to track the demographics of people diagnosed with autism from 2016-2024, and found an overall increase in autism diagnoses over that period, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the researchers say diagnosis rates among males remained steady - the increase was mostly driven by teen and adult women. Increases in the rate of autism diagnosis in recent years can therefore be attributed to the recognition of people who historically fell through the cracks rather than an increase in the prevalence of autism, the researchers conclude.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: St Louis University, USA

Funder: The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.