Short report: Transition to International Classification of Diseases,10th Revision and the prevalence of autism in a cohort of healthcare systems

Abstract

Currently, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (henceforth “autism”) is 1 in 36, an increasing trend from previous estimates. In 2015, the United States adopted a new version (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) of the World Health Organization coding system, a standard for classifying medical conditions. Our goal was to examine how the transition to this new coding system impacted autism diagnoses in 10 healthcare systems. We obtained information from electronic medical records and insurance claims data from July 2014 through December 2016 for each healthcare system. We used member enrollment data for 30 consecutive months to observe changes 15 months before and after adoption of the new coding system. Overall, the rates of autism per 1000 enrolled members was increasing for 0- to 5-year-olds before transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision and did not substantively change after the new coding was in place. There was variation observed in autism diagnoses before and after transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision for other age groups. The change to the new coding system did not meaningfully affect autism rates at the participating healthcare systems. The increase observed among 0- to 5-year-olds is likely indicative of an ongoing trend related to increases in screening for autism rather than a shift associated with the new coding.

Lay abstract

Currently, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (henceforth “autism”) is 1 in 36, an increasing trend from previous estimates. In 2015, the United States adopted a new version (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) of the World Health Organization coding system, a standard for classifying medical conditions. Our goal was to examine how the transition to this new coding system impacted autism diagnoses in 10 healthcare systems. We obtained information from electronic medical records and insurance claims data from July 2014 through December 2016 for each healthcare system. We used member enrollment data for 30 consecutive months to observe changes 15 months before and after adoption of the new coding system. Overall, the rates of autism per 1000 enrolled members was increasing for 0- to 5-year-olds before transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision and did not substantively change after the new coding was in place. There was variation observed in autism diagnoses before and after transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision for other age groups. The change to the new coding system did not meaningfully affect autism rates at the participating healthcare systems. The increase observed among 0- to 5-year-olds is likely indicative of an ongoing trend related to increases in screening for autism rather than a shift associated with the new coding.