Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42340631›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Brief Report: Prevalence and Trends of Developmental Disabilities Among US Children and Adolescents Aged 3 to 17 Years From 2016 to 2024.

Qing Long, Chan Xu, Yunjuan Yang, Yun Wang, Xiaofang Yan, Jinhua Lu, Wenhan Yang

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Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Qing Long *Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Province, 510006, Guangzhou, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-8899-0479
Chan Xu *Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Province, 510006, Guangzhou, China.
Yunjuan YangChildren and Adolescents Health Research Team, Yunnan Provincial Preventive Medicine Academy, Yunnan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yunnan province, 650200, Kunming, China.
Yun WangDepartment of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Province, 510006, Guangzhou, China.
Xiaofang YanDepartment of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Province, 510006, Guangzhou, China.
Jinhua LuDivision of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangdong Province, 510623, Guangzhou, China.
Wenhan YangDepartment of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Province, 510006, Guangzhou, China. wenhan-yang@gdpu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4786-1516

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo assess the prevalence and trends of developmental disabilities among U.S. children and adolescents aged 3-17 years from 2016 to 2024.

methodsUsing data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, 2021-2024) and the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH, 2016-2023). Only NHIS contributed 2024 data, with NSCH through 2023. We calculated the weighted prevalence with 95% confidence intervals for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and other developmental delays and examined trends from 2016 to 2024.

resultsPrevalence increased significantly for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disability, and autism spectrum disorder but remained stable for intellectual disability and other developmental delays. Age-specific analyses revealed distinct distributions: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disability were most common in school-age children, whereas autism spectrum disorder was higher among preschool-aged children compared with older groups.

conclusionThe prevalence of developmental disabilities among U.S. children has risen substantially. This persistent upward trend underscores a growing public health challenge, necessitating enhanced early identification, service delivery, and research into the multifactorial drivers behind these increases.

Indexed as

Autism spectrum disorderDevelopmental disabilitiesPrevalenceTrends

Identifiers

PMID42340631

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.