Outcome and prognostic factors in infantile autism and similar conditions: a population-based study of 46 cases followed through puberty.

This follow-up study reports data from a population-based series of children in the Göteborg region of Sweden diagnosed in childhood as suffering from infantile autism and other childhood psychoses and followed through to the ages of 16-23 years. The results of the study are in good accord with the only previous population-based study of the same kind. IQ at diagnosis and communicative speech development before 6 years were the most important prognostic factors, but other trends were seen that also compare favorably with previous studies. Some previously unreported trends also emerged.