Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability characterized by repetitive behaviors and persistent impairments in social interaction and communication. The prevalence of ASD has been increasing since 2000, with inconsistent findings in racial/ethnic disparities.^1-3 Over the past decade, the racial/ethnic disparities have persisted but have narrowed in response to the US Health and Human Services Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.⁴ However, it remains unknown how racial/ethnic disparities have changed over time. We used recently released data from the National Health Interview Survey to assess the most recent temporal trends and racial/ethnic disparities in ASD prevalence from 2014 through 2019.

This repeated cross-sectional study used nationally representative data for 2014 through 2019. The National Health Interview Survey uses a stratified multistage sample design and collects data on a wide range of health-related topics through in-person household interviews. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center institutional review board reviewed the study protocol and granted an exemption from full review. Informed patient consent was also waived because the study was a secondary analysis of deidentified data. We followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline for cross-sectional studies.

Race/ethnicity for this study was self-reported. Following the design and estimation guidelines for the National Health Interview Survey survey,⁵ we used a survey procedure in SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc) to account for the complex sampling design, and analyzed the data for race-specific prevalence and by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. To identify time trends across survey years, we performed weighted linear regression analyses, in which the survey year was treated as a continuous variable, with adjustment for potential confounders. The SEs were estimated using Taylor series linearization, and 2-sided P < .05 indicated statistical significance.

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种发展性残疾，其特征是重复性行为以及社交互动和交流中的持续性障碍。自2000年以来，自闭症的患病率一直在上升，种族/族裔差异的发现不一致。^{1 -3}在过去的十年中，种族/族裔差距一直存在，但随着《美国减少种族和族裔健康差距的美国健康与人类服务行动计划》的提出，种族/族裔差距有所缩小。⁴但是，种族/族裔差异如何随时间变化仍是未知的。我们使用了《美国国家健康访问调查》最近发布的数据来评估2014年至2019年ASD患病率的最新时间趋势和种族/种族差异。

这项重复的横断面研究使用了2014年至2019年的全国代表性数据。国家健康访问调查使用分层的多阶段样本设计，并通过面对面的家庭访问收集了与健康相关的广泛主题的数据。田纳西大学健康科学中心大学审查委员会对研究方案进行了审查，并获得了全面审查的豁免。由于该研究是对身份不明数据的次要分析，因此也无需知情的患者同意。我们遵循了针对横断面研究的加强流行病学观察性研究报告（STROBE）的报告指南。

这项研究的种族/民族是自我报告的。遵循《国家健康访问调查》的设计和估计准则，[ ^5]我们使用SAS 9.4版（SAS Institute Inc.）中的调查程序来说明复杂的抽样设计，并分析了特定种族患病率的数据以及社会人口统计学和临床特征。为了确定整个调查年的时间趋势，我们进行了加权线性回归分析，其中将调查年视为连续变量，并对潜在的混杂因素进行了调整。使用泰勒级数线性化估计SE，并且两面P  <.05表示统计显着性。