Identification of autistic Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand: A national cross-sectional study.
Jessica Tupou, Fran Kewene, Ia Morrison-Young and 5 others
PMID 41578668WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic Māori young people were more likely to have intellectual disability and education funding support than autistic non-Māori, while autism identification rates were lower for Māori overall.
Key findings
012877 rangatahi Māori were identified as autistic, reflecting an identification rate of 70.9 per 10,000 population, compared with 9084 non-Māori young people and a rate of 78.3 per 10,000 people.
02After adjustment, autistic Māori had significantly higher odds of intellectual disability (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.24) and being ORS funded (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.22, 1.48) compared to autistic non-Māori.
03Autism identification rates were lower among Māori across all sociodemographic subgroups except ages 0 to 4 years and 5 to 9 years, where Māori rates were marginally higher.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The autism case identification method has not been validated and may not accurately capture the true number of cases. The study used administrative records and older diagnostic codes, so the categories may not match current autism spectrum disorder definitions. It only covered people aged 0 to 24 years, so it says nothing about older autistic people. It counted only officially recorded diagnoses and service use, so Māori who face barriers to accessing services may be undercounted. Most autism cases came from disability support services referral data, which may select for higher support needs. Formal support need was measured by proxies, intellectual disability and ORS funding, not by direct assessment of support needs. The data were collected for administrative purposes, ethnicity indicators may be inconsistent, and sex/gender was recorded as binary.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration appears in the supplied article text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lower autism identification rate among Māori as evidence that autism is less common among Māori. The study counted recorded diagnoses and service use, and the authors say lower rates may reflect barriers to diagnosis, institutional racism and inequities.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →