To study autism outside of a narrow range of settings previously studied, and in a particularly distinctive setting in the
Caribbean. The aim of the Aruba Autism Project was to determine the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in birth
years 1990–1999 in Aruba. A record review study was conducted; cases were ascertained from children treated at the Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic of Aruba, the first and only child psychiatry service on the island. In these 10 birth years
we found a prevalence for autistic disorder (AD) of 1.9 per 1,000 (95% CI 1.2–2.8) and for autism spectrum disorders of 5.3
per 1,000 (95% CI 4.1–6.7). Comparison analysis with a cumulative incidence report from the UK, showed a similar cumulative
incidence to age five in Aruba. Prevalence of ASDs in birth years 1990–1999 and cumulative incidence to age five in Aruba
are similar to recent reports from the United Kingdom and the United States.
Significant Outcomes:
•This first epidemiologic study on ASD in the Caribbean shows prevalence estimates and gender distribution similar to those
reported in recent studies in the UK and US.
•Comparison analysis with a study of cumulative incidence of AD and ASD in the UK showed a cumulative incidence rate in the
youngest age group in Aruba at the high end of the confidence interval of that in the UK.
•Only children who presented for clinical assessment and elicited clinical suspicion of falling within the autism spectrum
are included in the prevalence estimate.
•Cases born in the early 1990s may have emigrated in search of services prior to the clinic’s opening.
•Higher functioning cases born in the late 1990s may not have attained a sufficient age for referral.