Who Is Affected by Down Syndrome
Down syndrome occurs in all cultures,
ethnic groups, socioeconomic levels, and geographic locations.
- About 1 out of
733 babies born in the U.S. has Down syndrome.2
- The risk of a 20-year-old woman
having a baby with trisomy 21-type Down syndrome is 1 in about 2,000. By age
45, a woman's risk for having a child with this type of Down syndrome is 1 in
20.1
References
Citations
Roizen NJ (2007). Down syndrome. In ML Batshaw et al.,
eds., Children with Disabilities, 6th ed., pp. 263–273.
Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.
Smith RP (2008). Down syndrome. In Netter's Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2nd ed., pp. 410–412.
Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics |
| Last Revised | July 20, 2011 |