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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Sep;51(9):3165-3179.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04763-2. Epub 2020 Nov 17.

A Meta-analysis of Outcome Studies of Autistic Adults: Quantifying Effect Size, Quality, and Meta-regression

David Mason  1 , Simone J Capp  2 , Gavin R Stewart  2 , Matthew J Kempton  3 , Karen Glaser  4 , Patricia Howlin  5 , Francesca Happé  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

A Meta-analysis of Outcome Studies of Autistic Adults: Quantifying Effect Size, Quality, and Meta-regression

David Mason et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Longitudinal studies have generally reported poor outcomes in adulthood for the majority of individuals (c.50-60%) with autism. Several factors putatively predict outcome (e.g. IQ), but findings remain mixed. This paper presents an updated meta-analysis of autism outcome studies and extends previous findings with additional analyses (including meta-regression). A total of 4088 records was screened and 18 studies, involving 1199 individuals, were included in the quantitative analysis. Estimated percentages indicated that 20.0% of participants were rated as having a good outcome, 26.6% a fair outcome, and 49.3% a poor outcome. Meta-regression indicated that lower IQ in adulthood was predictive of poor outcome; other meta-regression models did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Overall, outcomes for autistic people are on average poor, and higher IQ appears to be protective against having a poor outcome. The limitations of current constructs of outcome are discussed.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Functioning; Meta-analysis; Outcome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA diagram for the systematic review process. a These studies were included in the Steinhausen et al. (2016) review: DeMyer et al. (1973), Lotter (1974), Rutter et al. (1967). b Three of these were included in the Steinhausen et al. (2016) review: Farley et al. (2009), Howlin et al. (2004, 2013)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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