Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Analysis of a National Private Claims Insurance Database

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a detrimental impact on individuals with disabilities. Data from FAIR Health's FH (R) NPIC (National Private Insurance Claims) database, one of the nation's largest databases of private insurance claim records, were analyzed to understand the experiences of individuals with ASD in the COVID-19 pandemic. Multivariate logistic regression models revealed that individuals with ASD + ID were nine times more likely to be hospitalized following COVID-19 infection (OR = 9.3; 95% CI: 6.9-12.5) and were nearly six times more likely to have an elevated length of hospital stay (OR = 5.9; 95% CI: 3.5-10.1) compared to those without ASD + ID. These findings point to the need for prioritizing access to vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection and morbidities. This is the first study to illustrate a higher likelihood of hospitalization and elevated length of hospital stay from COVID-19 in individuals with ASD and other comorbidities.