Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May;52(5):2350-2356.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05100-x. Epub 2021 May 26.

Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Analysis of a National Private Claims Insurance Database

Arun Karpur  1 , Vijay Vasudevan  2 , Andy Shih  2 , Thomas Frazier  2
Affiliations

Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Analysis of a National Private Claims Insurance Database

Arun Karpur et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 May.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a detrimental impact on individuals with disabilities. Data from FAIR Health's FH® NPIC (National Private Insurance Claims) database, one of the nation's largest databases of private insurance claim records, were analyzed to understand the experiences of individuals with ASD in the COVID-19 pandemic. Multivariate logistic regression models revealed that individuals with ASD + ID were nine times more likely to be hospitalized following COVID-19 infection (OR = 9.3; 95% CI: 6.9-12.5) and were nearly six times more likely to have an elevated length of hospital stay (OR = 5.9; 95% CI: 3.5-10.1) compared to those without ASD + ID. These findings point to the need for prioritizing access to vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection and morbidities. This is the first study to illustrate a higher likelihood of hospitalization and elevated length of hospital stay from COVID-19 in individuals with ASD and other comorbidities.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; COVID-19 pandemic; FAIR health inc.; Hospitalization; Intellectual disabilities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency of outpatient visits and hospitalizations in COVID-19 for condition groups
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Likelihood of hospitalization in COVID-19 infection across the condition groups
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Likelihood of higher than median length of stay in hospital from COVID-19 infection
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bal VH, Wilkinson E, White LC, Law JK, Feliciano P, Chung WK. Early pandemic experiences of autistic adults: Predictors of psychological distress. Autism Research. 2021 doi: 10.1002/aur.2480. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown GM, Karthikeyan R, Pandi-Perumal SR, Cardinali DP. Autism spectrum disorder patients may be susceptible to COVID-19 disease due to deficiency in melatonin. Medical Hypotheses. 2021 doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2021.110544. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Colizzi M, Sironi E, Antonini F, Ciceri ML, Bovo C, Zoccante L. Psychosocial and behavioral impact of COVID-19 in autism spectrum disorder: An online parent survey. Brain Sciences. 2020 doi: 10.3390/brainsci10060341. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cunningham JW, Vaduganathan M, Claggett BL, Jering KS, Bhatt AS, Rosenthal N, Solomon SD. Clinical outcomes in young US adults hospitalized with COVID-19. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2020 doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.5313. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jeste S, Hyde C, Distefano C, Halladay A, Ray S, Porath M, Thurm A. Changes in access to educational and healthcare services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities during COVID-19 restrictions. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 2020;64(11):825–833. doi: 10.1111/jir.12776. - DOI - PubMed