Accessibility Cookies Privacy notice GDPR
Select topic
Population Health Housing and accommodation Employment and Education Family Other topics
Select local authority
Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute City of Edinburgh Clackmannanshire Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Dumfries and Galloway Dundee East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire Falkirk Fife Glasgow City Highland Inverclyde Midlothian Moray North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Orkney Islands Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Scottish Borders Shetland Islands South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire Stirling West Dunbartonshire West Lothian
Select health board
Ayrshire and Arran Borders Dumfries and Galloway Fife Forth Valley Grampian Greater Glasgow and Clyde Highland Lanarkshire Lothian Orkney Shetland Tayside Western Isles
Home / Our research / Determinants of health and inequalities research / Wider determinants of health / Health of young people with autism during transition to adulthood

Health of young people with autism during transition to adulthood

Background:

Over the transition period, we aimed to investigate general health status of youth with autism, with and without intellectual disabilities, and demographic associations with general health status.

What we did:

The National Longitudinal Transitions Study-2 includes a nationally representative sample of youth receiving special education services aged 13-17 years at wave 1, followed up over 10 years in five waves of data collection. Parent-reported data identified individuals with autism and their general health status. We conducted random-effects ordered logistic regressions to determine the odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of wave, age, sex, ethnicity, additional intellectual disabilities, parental/guardian relationship status and household income being associated with general health status in youth with autism.

What we found:

At wave 1, data on whether young people had a record of autism were available on 9,008/9,576 (94.1%) individuals, and 1,019/9,008 (11.3%) of them had autism. Across waves, only between 74.3%-69.9% had excellent/very good health (71.7%-58.8% in those with additional

intellectual disabilities), but wave was not associated with general health status. Associations were for age OR=1.18 (1.04, 1.33), additional intellectual disabilities OR=1.56 (1.00, 2.44) and household income OR=0.61 (0.40, 0.94) at $30,001-$50,000, OR=0.44 (0.27, 0.72) at $50,001-$70,000, and OR=0.34 (0.20, 0.56) at $70,001+. Sex, ethnicity, and parental/guardian relationship status were not associated with general health status.

What these findings mean:

There was little change in general health status longitudinally across the transitional period in youth with autism. However, youth with autism need health planning across this period given the low proportion with excellent/very good health, and changes from child to adult services and support provision, including consideration of their household circumstances. Lack of other longitudinal studies indicates a need for more research.


The original article for this study General health status of youth with autism with and without intellectual disabilities transitioning from special education, and its relationship to personal and family circumstances: longitudinal cohort study by Ewelina Rydzewska,Michael Fleming,Daniel Mackay,Genevieve Young-Southward,Jan Blacher,Yasamin Ross Bolourian,Keith Widaman & Sally-Ann Cooper is available online via  the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities. 

For further information on this project, please contact
sldo-info@glasgow.ac.uk

Page updated 31st August 2021. 

View other information

Our Bodies, Our Rights: Identifying and Removing Barriers to Disabled Women's Reproductive Rights in Scotland Hate Crime How transition to adulthood affects health and wellbeing in young people with learning disabilties The impact of transition on health and wellbeing in young people with learning disabilities: Qualitative study Health of young people with learning disabilities during transition to adulthood Reproductive (in) justice and inequality in the lives of women with intellectual disabilities in Scotland The impact of violence on the health and wellbeing of people with learning disabilities