ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects people across the entire lifespan, yet most of the research identifying the health and medical needs for autistic individuals have been among minors. As individuals with ASD transition to emerging adulthood, the services, already limited, become less available. This study aimed to identify the use of services for Latin American adults on the spectrum. We surveyed 295 caregivers of adults with ASD from six Latin American countries. Comparing the results for all the possible services observed in this study, the adults in our sample were primarily underserved: 84.4%–95.9% were receiving zero hours per week, 3.7%–12.9% 1%–10 h, 0%–1.7% 11–20, and only 0%–1% above 20 h of services. Almost half of the sample used medication, and neurologists were the most consulted health providers. Next to inexistent health care usage in Latin American adults with ASD highlights socioeconomic and health disparities in service provision for ASD in the region. The lack of services places adults with ASD in Latin America at a higher risk of worse symptom severity than autistic adults from regions with broader access to services.

中文翻译：

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拉丁美洲 ASD 成人患者联合医疗服务和药物的使用

ASD 是一种神经发育障碍，会影响人们的整个生命周期，但大多数确定自闭症患者健康和医疗需求的研究都是针对未成年人的。随着 ASD 患者过渡到成年期，本已有限的服务变得越来越少。本研究旨在确定拉丁美洲成年人对频谱服务的使用情况。我们调查了来自六个拉丁美洲国家的 295 名 ASD 成年人的照顾者。比较本研究中观察到的所有可能服务的结果，我们样本中的成年人主要服务不足：84.4%–95.9% 每周接受零小时服务，3.7%–12.9% 1%–10 小时，0%–1.7% 11-20，并且只有 0%-1% 超过 20 小时的服务。几乎一半的样本使用了药物，神经科医生是咨询次数最多的医疗保健提供者。除了拉丁美洲成人 ASD 不存在医疗保健使用之外，该地区 ASD 服务提供方面的社会经济和健康差异也凸显出来。服务的缺乏使拉丁美洲的 ASD 成年人比来自更广泛获得服务的地区的自闭症成年人面临更高的症状严重程度的风险。