Autism-like traits and/or autism elevated in psychosis

"Rates of ASD [autism spectrum disorder] and ASD traits are elevated in a psychosis population."

The paper by Debbie Kincaid and colleagues [1] provides yet more [short] blogging material pertinent to the increasing interest in how psychosis may be yet another comorbidity over-represented when it comes to autism (see here) and vice-versa. I know this is another topic that has to be treated with some caution in terms of concepts like stigma but more discussions - science discussions - are needed to ensure that appropriate screening, diagnosis and also management is available to those who might need it.

A systematic review was the name of the research game for Kincaid et al as seven studies "reporting prevalence rates of Autistic-like Traits (ALTs) and ASD in populations with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder" were included. The results weren't exactly precise in terms of what was reported as anywhere between 9-61% of those diagnosed with psychosis presented with those ALTs and between 1-52% of those with psychosis were also diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The authors however are correct when they point out that the "prevalence rates of ALTs and ASD in psychosis populations are much higher than in the general population." Quite a bit higher if one looks at the top end of those prevalence stats.

I'll leave it at that for now.

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[1] Kincaid DL. et al. What is the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder and ASD traits in psychosis? A systematic review. Psychiatry Research. 2017. Jan 6.

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Kincaid, D., Doris, M., Shannon, C., & Mulholland, C. (2017). What is the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder and ASD traits in psychosis? A systematic review Psychiatry Research DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.017