Diagnostic delay of autism in Jordan: review of 84 cases

L ittle research is available on autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) epidemiology and clinical practice in developing countries. Studies from the Middle East are particularly rare (1 6). In Western countries, autism is regarded as highly influenced by genetics, although genetic abnormalities are only identified in a minority of patients (7). There is increasing evidence that the high rates of consanguinity in the Middle East predispose to an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance of autism (8). In Jordan, the incidence of autosomal recessive disorders is high, and contributes significantly to the etiologies of global developmental delay (9, 10). However, it is not known if autosomal recessive disorders contribute to the incidence of autism in Jordan. In this study, we reviewed the medical records of all the 84 children (64 boys and 20 girls) diagnosed with autism between January 2001 and December 2009, at our clinic at Jordan University Hospital. The Clinical diagnosis of autism was based on the DSM: IV_TR criteria, American Psychiatric Association (11).