Use, costs, and predictors of psychiatric healthcare services following an autism spectrum diagnosis: Population-based cohort study

However, little is known about how the use of these services evolves from the time of diagnosis, as children grow up. Our objectives were to investigate the use, costs, and predictors of psychiatric services following autism spectrum diagnosis.

We built a cohort of 1227 newly diagnosed autism spectrum individuals identified in the Quebec (Canada) Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec administrative database (January 1998 to December 2010). Mean number and cost per individual of psychiatric healthcare use (hospitalizations, medical visits, psychoactive drug use) were calculated yearly for 5 years following autism spectrum diagnosis. Mean number of psychiatric visits decreased over time by more than threefold (7.5 vs 2.1 visits) from year 1 to year 5, whereas psychoactive drug use increased from 16.0 to 25.2 claims.