Clinical and psychosocial characteristics in adults with pervasive development disorders: a survey in Japan
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Yoshinori Yukawa
Abstract
Background: In spite of the relatively high prevalence of pervasive development disorders (PDD), the medical and educational services for persons with PDD are insufficient in Japan. The present study investigated the clinical and psychosocial characteristics of adults with PDD in Japan.
Methods: We selected 111 individuals with PDD out of the 257 subjects attending an outpatient clinic for adult PDD at Showa University Karasuyama Hospital, between the period of July 2008 and June of 2009. Sociodemographic factors, psychosocial characteristics, and medication status of the subjects were investigated.
Results: The mean age of subjects at the initial visit to a medical organization was 21.4 years; however, only 34.2% were diagnosed as having PDD. These results indicated that persons with PDD are apt to be misdiagnosed. Most of the persons with PDD were unmarried, and lived with their parents. This may be partly due to economic reasons, because the unemployment rate was high in this group. More than 45% of the subjects with PDD were taking psychoactive medications, which indicated that they carried a high-risk for co-existing mental health problems.
Conclusions: The results of the present study indicated that many persons with PDD are socially isolated, in spite of their relatively high level of education, and that these individuals require additional medical and educational services.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- Devaluation and people with intellectual disability
- Reviews
- Education of persons with disabilities in India: a reality or a parable
- Benefits of inclusion and segregation for individuals with disabilities in leisure
- Original Articles
- Clinical and psychosocial characteristics in adults with pervasive development disorders: a survey in Japan
- Disabled youth in South Africa: barriers to education
- Interdisciplinary score for the evaluation of bariatric treatment in obese children (BAREV-C)
- Social, economic, and demographic factors affecting risk of severe disability and employability in India
- Seasonality patterns of mood and behavior in the Old Order Amish
- Assertiveness and self-esteem in Turkish adolescents: a study on athletes and nonathletes
- Developing ‘policy stories’ for state health system benchmarking: a small-N quali-quantitative study
- Building policy and service theory from nursing home inspection results: Qualitative Comparative Analysis
- Test-retest reliability of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire in Old Order Amish
- Reading aloud improves executive function of children with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial
