Premature death of autistic people in the UK scientists report for the first time

A new study led by UCL researchers confirms that autistic people experience a reduced life expectancy, however, the number of years of life lost may not be as high as previously claimed.

The research, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, is the first to estimate the life expectancy and years of life lost by autistic people living in the UK.

The team used anonymised data from GP practices throughout the UK to study people who received an autism diagnosis between 1989 to 2019. They studied 17,130 people diagnosed as autistic without a learning disability and 6,450 participants diagnosed as autistic with a learning disability. They then compared these groups with people of the same age and sex, who had not been diagnosed as autistic.

The researchers found that autistic men without a learning disability had an average estimated life expectancy of 74.6 years, and autistic women without a learning disability, around 76.8 years.

Meanwhile, the estimated life expectancy for people diagnosed with autism and learning disability was around 71.7 years for men and 69.6 years for women.

The findings provide the first evidence that diagnosed autistic people were more likely to die prematurely in the UK across the time period studied, indicating an urgent need to address inequalities that disproportionately affect autistic people.

Reference: Premature death of autistic people in the UK investigated for the first time; The Lancet Regional Health – Europe; DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100776