Prevalence study on autism spectrum disorders in Bulgaria

Abstract

Reported prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has steadily increased over the past 30 years. Growing ASD patient population highlights a number of medico-social issues and demands sustainable solutions from health, social and educational authorities. Autism Spectrum Disorders in the European Union (ASDEU) is a EU-funded project that is offering an evidence-based ASD public health model, focused on prevalence estimation methods, early detection, early diagnosis and early interventions. Establishment of mechanisms for generation and use of epidemiological data is a key point in planning and implementing health, social and educational activities for ASD. This is а large-scale research task that requires a high degree of coordination and interaction with numerous stakeholders from various jurisdictions. ASDEU main objective is to estimate the prevalence of ASD in the EU. In this paper, we present the protocol for conducting the ASD prevalence study in Bulgaria.