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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Neonatal factors among subjects diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder in the US
David Geier1,2, Janet Kern1,2,3, Mark Geier1,2
1a The Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc , Silver Spring , MD , USA.
Insights
This study found no significant differences in neonatal factors between children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and controls. The male/female ratio was higher in cases, but birth weight, gestational age, and APGAR scores did not differ.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal factors
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorder research
Background:
- Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) diagnosis has been linked to neonatal factors in prior studies.
- Limited longitudinal data exists from prospective medical record assessments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate birth characteristics in children diagnosed with PDD compared to controls.
- To utilize prospective medical record data for hypothesis testing.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal, case-control study design.
- Utilized the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) database for prospectively collected automated medical records.
- Compared birth characteristics including gender, gestational age, birth weight, APGAR scores, and maternal age.
Main Results:
- Cases diagnosed with PDD showed a significantly increased male/female ratio compared to controls.
- No statistically significant differences were found in mean gestational age, birth weight, maternal age, or APGAR scores between cases and controls.
Conclusions:
- Neonatal factors, excluding gender ratio, do not appear to significantly differentiate children diagnosed with PDD from controls.
- This study contributes to understanding the etiology of PDD by ruling out certain neonatal risk factors.
Purpose:
Contradictory studies suggest that some neonatal factors may be associated with a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) diagnosis, but limited data is available from longitudinal, prospective medical record assessments.
Materials And Methods:
The present hypothesis-testing longitudinal, case-control study evaluated birth characteristics among cases diagnosed with a PDD in comparison to controls by examining prospectively collected automated medical records within the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) database.
Results:
Cases were Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)-enrolled from birth until diagnosed with International Classification of Disease, 9th revision (ICD-9) PDD (299.xx) and controls were HMO-enrolled from birth for at least 4.75 years without a PDD diagnosis. The birth characteristics examined included: gender, gestational age in weeks at birth, mean birth weight in grams, Appearance-Pulse-Grimace-Activity-Respiration (APGAR) scores at 1 minute and 5 minutes, and maternal age in years at birth. Cases had a significantly increased male/female ratio relative to controls. By contrast, mean gestational age at birth, mean birth weight, mean maternal age at birth, and mean APGAR scores at 1 minute and 5 minutes were not statistically different among cases compared to controls.
Conclusions:
This study indicates that cases diagnosed with a PDD as compared to controls do not have significant differences in neonatal factors.
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