ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1520460
This article is part of the Research TopicEmpowering Early Career Researchers in Psychiatry: Advancing Autism ResearchView all 5 articles
Epidemiological Trends in Autism and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Kazakhstan (2016-2022): A Regional and National Perspective
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Public Health, Karaganda State Medical University, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
- 2Karaganda State Medical University, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
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Background: This study investigates the epidemiological trends of autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders in Kazakhstan from 2016 to 2022.Utilizing national healthcare databases, we analyzed the incidence and prevalence of childhood autism, atypical autism, and neurodevelopmental disorders across various regions of Kazakhstan.Results: Our findings reveal a nearly fivefold increase in the diagnosis of childhood autism and a fourfold increase in atypical autism over the seven-year period, with both trends showing statistical significance (p < 0.01). However, no significant trend was observed for broader neurodevelopmental disorders. Regional disparities were evident, with northern regions showing higher rates of ASD diagnoses compared to the southern regions, likely influenced by factors such as healthcare infrastructure, urbanization, and environmental pollution. Astana showed a marked increase in childhood autism prevalence, reaching 263.7 per 100,000 children by 2022.Data highlight an important public health trend in Kazakhstan, where the primary incidence of autism spectrum disorders is on the rise, reflecting improved recognition and diagnostic practices.
Keywords: autism, Kazakhstan, trend, developmental disorder, Epidemiology
Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nukeshtayeva, Bolatova, Galayeva, Shintayeva and Zhanalina. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Karina Nukeshtayeva, School of Public Health, Karaganda State Medical University, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
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