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. 2018 Jun;48(6):2217-2223.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3480-6.

The Co-occurrence of Gender Dysphoria and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adults: An Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Clinical Chart Data

Gunter Heylens  1 , Lore Aspeslagh  2 , Jesper Dierickx  2 , Kariann Baetens  2 , Birgit Van Hoorde  2 , Griet De Cuypere  2 , Els Elaut  2
Affiliations

The Co-occurrence of Gender Dysphoria and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adults: An Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Clinical Chart Data

Gunter Heylens et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Jun.

Abstract

Quantitative studies indicate an overrepresentation of ASD in individuals with GD. This study aims to determine the prevalence of autistic traits or ASD in adults with GD using two different data collection methods: (1) cross-sectional data using the social responsiveness scale-adults (SRS-A) and the autism quotient (AQ) (n = 63). (2) Clinical chart data (n = 532). Mean SRS-A scores were significantly higher compared to a norm population. Almost 5% of the patients with GD scored above the cut-off as measured by the AQ. In 32 patients (6%), a certain ASD diagnosis was found in the patient files, which is sixfold higher compared to the general population. Significantly more "birth assigned male" were affected compared to "birth assigned female".

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Comorbidity; Gender dysphoria.

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