{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T02:23:54Z","timestamp":1773023034334,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,30]],"date-time":"2023-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1693353600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Accurate prevalence estimates for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are fundamental to adequately program medical and educational resources for children. However, estimates vary globally and across Europe, and it is therefore wise to conduct epidemiological studies in defined geo-cultural contexts.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We used a population screening approach to estimate the prevalence of ASD in the Centro region of Portugal, using a harmonized protocol as part of the Autism Spectrum Disorders in the European Union (ASDEU) project.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The overall prevalence was estimated at 0.5% (95% CI 0.3\u20130.7), higher in schools with Autism Units (3.3%, 95%CI 2.7\u20133.9) than in regular schools (0.3%, 95% CI 0.1\u20130.5) or schools with Multiple Disability Units (0.3%, 95% CI 0.04\u20130.6).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results indicate that the diagnosis of ASD is followed by the most effective educational policies in Centro Region. The variability in prevalence estimates across the different regions from the ASDEU project, and globally, is discussed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2023.1148184","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,31]],"date-time":"2023-08-31T06:46:29Z","timestamp":1693464389000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Centro region of Portugal: a population based study of school age children within the ASDEU project"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"C\u00e9lia","family":"Rasga","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Jo\u00e3o Xavier","family":"Santos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"C\u00e1tia","family":"Caf\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Frederico","family":"Duque","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Manuel","family":"Posada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Nunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Guiomar","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Astrid Moura","family":"Vicente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"508","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(18)31129-2","article-title":"Autism spectrum disorder","volume":"392","author":"Lord","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1182","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2017.12141","article-title":"The heritability of autism spectrum disorder","volume":"318","author":"Sandin","year":"2017","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"353","DOI":"10.31887\/DCNS.2017.19.4\/sscherer","article-title":"Syndromic autism spectrum disorders: moving from a clinically defined to a molecularly defined approach","volume":"19","author":"Fernandez","year":"2017","journal-title":"Dialogues Clin Neurosci"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.3389\/fncel.2018.00078","article-title":"Epigenetics and autism spectrum disorder: is there a correlation?","volume":"12","author":"Eshraghi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front Cell Neurosci"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1186\/s13229-017-0121-4","article-title":"Environmental risk factors for autism: an evidence-based review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses","volume":"8","author":"Modabbernia","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mol Autism"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e360","DOI":"10.1038\/tp.2014.4","article-title":"Environmental toxicants and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review","volume":"4","author":"Rossignol","year":"2014","journal-title":"Transl Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00584048","article-title":"Epidemiology of autistic conditions in young children","volume":"1","author":"Lotter","year":"1966","journal-title":"Soc Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291700007522","article-title":"The prevalence of early childhood autism: comparison of administrative and epidemiological studies","volume":"6","author":"Wing","year":"1976","journal-title":"Psychol Med"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"778","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.2696","article-title":"Global prevalence of autism: a systematic review update","volume":"15","author":"Zeidan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Autism research"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"904","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.ajp.2011.10101532","article-title":"Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in a total population sample","volume":"168","author":"Kim","year":"2011","journal-title":"Am J Psychiatr"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2017-4161","article-title":"The prevalence of parent-reported autism spectrum disorder among US children","volume":"142","author":"Kogan","year":"2018","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2018.4208","article-title":"Prevalence and treatment patterns of autism spectrum disorder in the United States, 2016","volume":"173","author":"Xu","year":"2019","journal-title":"JAMA Pediatr"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"734","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-011-1302-1","article-title":"Are autism spectrum conditions more prevalent in an information-technology region? 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