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Prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal risk factors of autism spectrum disorder

Elizabeth Hisle-Gorman1, Apryl Susi2, Theophil Stokes3

  • 1Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. elizabeth.hisle-gorman.ctr@usuhs.edu.

Pediatric Research
|March 15, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is linked to various prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal conditions. Maternal medication use and neonatal seizures showed the strongest associations with ASD risk.

Area of Science:

  • Neurodevelopmental disorders
  • Pediatric health
  • Genetics and epigenetics

Background:

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition.
  • Identifying early risk factors is crucial for understanding ASD etiology.
  • Previous research has suggested associations between various exposures and ASD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between 29 neonatal, perinatal, and prenatal conditions and exposures with the later diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • To analyze a large cohort of children over multiple years to identify significant risk factors for ASD.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective case-cohort study utilizing the Military Health System database.
  • Identification of ASD cases using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes (2000-2013).
  • Matching 8,760 ASD cases with 26,280 controls (3:1 ratio) based on sex, date of birth, and enrollment time frame.

Main Results:

  • ASD was associated with maternal mental illness, epilepsy, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, PCOS, infections, asthma, assisted fertility, hyperemesis, younger maternal age, labor complications, low birth weight, infant infections, birth asphyxia, and newborn complications.
  • The highest increased risks were linked to infant epilepsy (OR 7.57), maternal mental health conditions (OR 1.80), and epilepsy medications (OR 1.60).

Conclusions:

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with a spectrum of prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal factors.
  • Maternal medication use and neonatal seizures demonstrated the highest magnitude associations with ASD.
  • These findings highlight the importance of considering a wide range of early-life exposures in ASD research.
Abstract

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