Maternal Exposures Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jamaican Children

MacKinsey A Christian1,2, Maureen Samms-Vaughan3, MinJae Lee2,4

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with poorly understood etiology. Many maternal exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding potentially interfere with neurodevelopment. Using data from two age- and sex-matched case-control studies in Jamaica (n = 298 pairs), results of conditional logistic regression analyses suggest that maternal exposures to fever or infection (matched odds ratio (MOR) = 3.12, 95% CI 1.74-5.60), physical trauma (MOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.01-4.05), and oil-based paints (MOR 1.99, 95% CI 1.14-3.46) may be associated with ASD. Additionally, maternal exposure to oil-based paints may modify the relationship between maternal exposure to pesticides and ASD, which deepens our understanding of the association between pesticides and ASD.

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