Diagnosed Developmental Disabilities in Children Aged 3–17 Years: United States, 2019–2021

"Key Findings

Data from the National Health Interview Survey

• During 2019–2021, the prevalence of any diagnosed developmental disability in children aged 3–17 years increased from 7.40% to 8.56%...
• The prevalence of intellectual disability increased with age, while the prevalence of other developmental delay decreased with age.
• Boys (4.66%) were more than three times as likely as girls (1.50%) to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder...

Developmental disabilities are common in children in the United States, and the prevalence has increased in recent years. Timely estimates are necessary to assess the adequacy of services and interventions that children with developmental disabilities typically need (2). This report provides updated prevalence estimates for diagnosed autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and other developmental delay among children aged 3–17 years from the 2019–2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), with differences in prevalence examined between years and by sex, age group, and race and Hispanic origin. Estimates are also presented for any developmental disability, defined as having had one or more of these three diagnoses... 

Summary

During 2019–2021, a significant increase in the prevalence of any diagnosed developmental disability was observed. However, no significant change in the prevalence of diagnosed autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability was observed over the same period. The increase in the prevalence of any developmental disability was largely the result of the significant increase in prevalence of any other developmental delay.

Estimates presented in this report are the first on developmental disabilities from NHIS since the survey was redesigned in 2019. While the prevalence reported in this report was higher for each selected condition than in a previous report from NHIS with estimates from 2014–2016, these estimates may not be comparable with pre-redesign estimates."