Table 4 Contributing factors to healthcare costs in individuals with ASD

Severity of ASD (+)

(Järbrink and Knapp 2001), (Sharpe and Baker 2007), (Barrett, Byford et al. 2012), (Barrett, Byford et al. 2012), (Raz, Lerner-Geva et al. 2013), (Horlin, Falkmer et al. 2014), (Roddy and O’Neill 2019)

Associated disabilities (+)

(Järbrink and Knapp 2001), (Järbrink 2007), (Peacock, Amendah et al. 2012), (Lavelle, Weinstein et al. 2014), (Thomas, Parish et al. 2014), (Vohra, Madhavan et al. 2017), (Roddy and O’Neill 2019), (Page, McKenzie et al. 2021), (Buescher, Cidav et al. 2014)

Utilizing medical interventions (+)

(Sharpe and Baker 2007)

Age (+)

(Barrett, Byford et al. 2012), (Lavelle, Weinstein et al. 2014), (Thomas, Parish et al. 2014), (Parish, Thomas et al. 2015), (Chang, Wang et al. 2018), (Hong, Lee et al. 2020), (Buescher, Cidav et al. 2014)

Age (−)

(Barrett, Mosweu et al. 2015), (Barry, Epstein et al. 2017), (Li, Chen et al. 2019), (Page, McKenzie et al. 2021), (Research Ethics Committees Certificate 2019)

Being male (+)

(Hong, Lee et al. 2020),

Being female (+)

(Li, Chen et al. 2019), (Page, McKenzie et al. 2021), (Research Ethics Committees Certificate 2019)

Income (−)

(Sharpe and Baker 2007), (Thomas, Parish et al. 2014),

Income (+)

(Raz, Lerner-Geva et al. 2013), (Parish, Thomas et al. 2015), (Candon, Barry et al. 2019)

Health insurance (−)

(Parish, Thomas et al. 2012), (Thomas, Williams et al. 2016)

Rural residence (+)

(Wang, Zhou et al. 2012)

Rural residence (−)

(Parish, Thomas et al. 2015)

Parents’ education (+)

(Raz, Lerner-Geva et al. 2013), (Thomas, Parish et al. 2014), (Page, McKenzie et al. 2021)

Education level among adults with ASD (−)

(Page, McKenzie et al. 2021)

Living with parents (+)

(Raz, Lerner-Geva et al. 2013)

Living with a single mother head of household (−)

(Thomas, Parish et al. 2014)

Having at least one older sibling (−)

(Raz, Lerner-Geva et al. 2013)

Delay in diagnosis (+)

(Horlin, Falkmer et al. 2014),

Prescription medication (+)

(Lavelle, Weinstein et al. 2014), (Thomas, Parish et al. 2014)

Private insurance (+)

(Parish, Thomas et al. 2015),

Household size (−)

(Parish, Thomas et al. 2015)

Being visited in teaching hospital (+)

(Li, Chen et al. 2019)