United States: Autism Diagnosis Reduces Life Expectancy by Approximately 14 Years - Sarmad

A large-scale study has shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in the U.S. government health insurance program Medicaid live, on average, about 14 years less than the general U.S. population, with high mortality rates due to diseases and accidents that researchers consider partly preventable.

Researchers from Columbia University and the University of Colorado found that the life expectancy at birth among individuals with ASD covered by Medicaid was 64.9 years, approximately 5.6 years lower than that of all Medicaid beneficiaries, and about 13.8 years lower than that of the general U.S. population.

Published in JAMA Network Open, the study is among the first large-scale efforts to estimate age-specific mortality rates and life expectancy among individuals with ASD. Previous autism research has focused more on genetic, biological, environmental, and diagnostic factors, with less attention given to long-term health outcomes.

The study included 2,048,000 individuals with ASD, 76% of whom were male. During the follow-up period, 18,268 deaths were recorded among participants.