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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase the proportion of children with autism spectrum disorder who receive special services by age 4 years — MICH‑18 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About this objective  |  Methodology  |  History

About this objective

Data

Data Source:  National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), HRSA/MCHB

National baseline: 59.3 percent of children with ASD received special services by age 48 months, as reported in 2016-17

National target: 76.6 percent

Numerator
Number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who received special services by age 48 months.
Denominator
Number of children, aged 4-8 years, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
National target-setting method
Minimal statistical significance
National target-setting method details
Minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline.
National target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. The standard error was used to calculate a target based on minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline. This method was used because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline.
National data collection frequency
Annual

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2016 through 2017 National Survey of Children's Health:

Numerator:
Has this child EVER received special services to meet his or her developmental needs such as speech, occupational, or behavioral therapy?
  1. Yes
  2. No
Is this child CURRENTLY receiving these special services?
  1. Yes
  2. No
How old was this child, in years, when he or she began receiving these special services?

_ _ _ Years And Months

Methodology notes

Please interpret with caution any estimate with a 95 percent confidence interval width exceeding 20 percentage points or 1.2 times the estimate.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective MICH-29.3 in that the data source for objective MICH-29.3 was the Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program (MADDSP), while the data source for this objective is the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH).
Revision History
  • Revised. 

    The denominator for this objective was changed to 4 through 8 years of age in July 2021. This allows for the full potential to receive services by 48 months and stops at 8 to restrict period effects as there have been major improvements in the timing of diagnosis and service receipt. For example, the proportion receiving services by 48 months drops in half with increasing age from 60.1% among 4-8 year olds to 32.8% among 9-11 year olds and 31.0% among 12-17 year olds with ASD. The previous Healthy People 2020 indicator was restricted to 8 year-olds. As a result, the base line was changed from 43.3 to 60.1, the target was changed from 53.3 to 78.1 and the target setting method was changed from Percent Improvement to Minimal Statistical Significance. While restricting the ages to 4-8 year olds reduces statistical reliability, the NSCH is continuing to increase sample size and all state-level estimates are either suppressed or unreliable regardless of definition. Any trends will be diluted by including all 4-17 year old children with ASD, some of whom would have started services more than 12 years prior, and would reduce the likelihood of target attainment.
  • Revised. 

    In April 2024, imputation and weighting by race and ethnicity were revised for the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health. To ensure comparability for trending, these changes were applied retroactively to data from the NSCH from 2016 through 2021 also. As a result, in 2026, the baseline value was changed from 60.1 to 59.3 percent. The target was changed from 78.1 to 76.6 percent. The target-setting method did not change.