The Prevalence of Self-injurious Behaviour in Autism: A Meta-analytic Study.
Catherine Steenfeldt-Kristensen, Chris A Jones, Caroline Richards
PMID 32297123WHAT IT FOUND
Self-injury affects 42% of autistic people.
It is not more common in those with intellectual disability, contrary to assumption. Female gender is linked to higher prevalence. Hand hitting, skin picking and hitting objects are the most common forms.
Key findings
01The pooled prevalence of self-injurious behaviour in autism is 42%.
02Presence of intellectual disability was not significantly associated with the prevalence of self-injurious behaviour.
03As the percentage of male participants in a sample increased, the prevalence of self-injury significantly decreased.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The studies showed very high heterogeneity (I2 = 96%), meaning the results varied greatly between studies, which makes the pooled estimate less precise. The quality of measuring intellectual disability was poor in many included studies, which may have obscured a true relationship between intellectual disability and self-injury. The meta-analysis was not pre-registered, which can introduce bias in how the data is analysed. Most studies included in the analysis recruited participants under the age of 18, so the findings may not fully represent adults or the elderly. It was not possible to analyse the effect of autism severity on self-injury prevalence due to insufficient data in the primary studies.
Declared interests
The text does not explicitly state a funding source or conflict of interest declaration for the authors in the provided excerpts, but notes that the search strategy and quality criteria were adapted from previous reviews.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that self-injury is primarily a problem for autistic people with intellectual disability. The study found no significant association between intellectual disability and the prevalence of self-injury, suggesting that autistic people without intellectual disability are also at substantial risk.