• Josephat M Chinawa, Pius C Manyike, Elias C Aniwada, Awoere T Chinawa, Herbert A Obu, Odutola I Odetunde, Ada Rc Nwokocha, and Roland R Ibekwe.
• College of Medicine, Department of pediatrics, University of Nigeria/ University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku- Ozalla, Enugu State, Nigeria.
• Afr Health Sci. 2016 Dec 1; 16 (4): 936942936-942.

ObjectivesThe objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence and socio-economic determinants of autism among children attending primary and secondary schools in South East, Nigeria.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study that assessed the prevalence and socio-economic pattern of childhood autism among children attending primary and secondary schools in Enugu and Ebonyi states, South East Nigeria. The questionnaire was adapted from American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). The study was carried out between June and October, 2014. The schools were selected by listing all the mixed schools in the urban and semi- urban areas by simple random sampling.ResultsA total of 721 subjects completed the questionnaire. The age of respondents ranged between 3 and 18 years, with mean age of 12.71 and standard deviation of 3.03 years. Twenty one children fulfilled the criteria for autism giving a prevalence of 2.9%. There is a significant association between age in categories (fishers exact test, p = 0.013) and social class (p=0.033).ConclusionThe prevalence of autism was 2.9%; and the socio-economic characteristics of childhood autism in South East Nigeria are similar to those in other parts of the world.

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