SPARK Demographic and Clinical Information

The demographic and clinical information of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for whom data are currently available in SFARI Base is summarized below.

Demographics

Characteristic Children
(n = 103,036)*
Independent and dependent adults
(20,244)*
Age at enrollment in years, mean (SD) 7.8 (4.3) 28.5 (10.8)
Sex at birth, n (%)
  -  Male 80,077 (77.72) 11,954 (59.05)
  -  Female 22,959 (22.28) 8,290 (40.95)
* does not include people with unknown ages
ASD Children and adults (n = 88,356)
Race and ethnicity, n (%)
  -  African American 6,208 (7.03)
  -  Asian 2,725 (3.08)
  -  Native American/ Native Hawaiian 667 (0.75)
  -  White 64,861 (73.41)
  -  Other 4,636 (5.25)
  -  More than one race 9,259 (10.48)
  -  Hispanic 16,663 (18.86)

 

Clinical information

Characteristic Children
(n = 99,808)
Dependent adults
(n = 9,351)
Language level at enrollment, n (%)
  -  No words 15,307 (15.34) 960 (10.27)
  -  Single words 14,819 (14.85) 838 (8.96)
  -  Phrase speech (3 words minimum) 16,427 (16.46) 1,326 (14.18)
  -  Longer sentences 53,255 (53.36) 6,227 (66.59)
Intellectual disability, n (%) 16,152 (16.18) 4,307 (46.06)
Children (n = 58,877)
Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ)
  -  Final score, mean (SD) 22 (7)
  -  Meets cut off ≥11, n (%) 54,865 (93.19)
  -  Meets cut off ≥15, n (%) 49,113 (83.42)
Children and dependent adults (n = 20,573)
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition
  -  Adaptive Behavior Composite Score, mean (SD) 70.8 (15)
  -  Adaptive Behavior Composite – Adaptive levels
  •  Low, n (%) 9,020 (43.84)
  •  Moderately low, n (%) 9,134 (44.40)
  •  Adequate, n (%) 2,344 (11.39)
  •  Moderately high, n (%) 65 (0.32)
  •  High, n (%) 10 (0.05)

 

IQ* IQ test records available** Full-Scale IQ ≤70
(n = 1,864)
Full-Scale IQ 71-84
(n = 836)
Full-Scale IQ 85-115
(n = 1,722)
Full-Scale IQ >115
(n = 290)
Age at test
<1 year – 5 years, n (%) 2,736 1,376 (50.29) 378 (13.82) 596 (21.78) 81 (2.96)
6 years – 11 years, n (%) 1,814 327 (18.03) 327 (18.03) 795 (43.83) 130 (7.17)
12 years – 17 years, n (%) 523 109 (20.84) 89 (17.02) 206 (39.39) 37 (7.07)
> 18 years,
n (%)
169 33 (19.53) 24 (14.20) 62 (36.69) 20 (11.83)
Age at test unknown 158 19 (12.03) 18 (11.39) 63 (39.87) 22 (13.92)

* Note: IQ data are available for a subset of adults and children through medical records
**Note: Not all individuals with an IQ test record will have a Full-Scale IQ listed. Percentages will not equal 100.

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive SFARI funding announcements and news