Author Interviews, Autism, BMJ, Parkinson's / 05.02.2026
Male:Female Ratio of Autism May Be More Equal Than Recognized
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_72249" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Fyfe[/caption]
Dr. Caroline Fyfe PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Life Long Health and Wellbeing Theme
University of Edinburgh
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Autism (ASD) has traditionally been seen as a condition that disproportionately affects males. This study quantifies the sex bias across birth cohorts, ages, and calendar time, using the Swedish national population registers to follow ~ 2.7 million individual born between 1985 and 2020 throughout their lives. Among children under ten years old the male-to-female diagnosis ratio remained relatively stable at about 3:1.
In contrast, a rapid increase in diagnoses of ASD among females during adolescence, produced a “female catch-up effect” that resulted in near parity of ASD prevalence between males and females by adulthood.
Dr. Fyfe[/caption]
Dr. Caroline Fyfe PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Life Long Health and Wellbeing Theme
University of Edinburgh
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Autism (ASD) has traditionally been seen as a condition that disproportionately affects males. This study quantifies the sex bias across birth cohorts, ages, and calendar time, using the Swedish national population registers to follow ~ 2.7 million individual born between 1985 and 2020 throughout their lives. Among children under ten years old the male-to-female diagnosis ratio remained relatively stable at about 3:1.
In contrast, a rapid increase in diagnoses of ASD among females during adolescence, produced a “female catch-up effect” that resulted in near parity of ASD prevalence between males and females by adulthood.