Gastrointestinal and Sleep Disorders in Children With and Without Autism

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Sleep Medicine
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are common in children, and can significantly impact sleep quality.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often associated with co-occurring medical conditions, including GI issues and sleep disturbances.
• The relationship between GI disorders and sleep problems in children with ASD requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe GI diagnoses and their frequency in children with and without autism referred for polysomnography.
• To examine the association between GI disorders and sleep disorders in children with ASD.
• To identify GI disorders that are most predictive of sleep disorders in children with and without ASD.

Main Methods:

• Secondary data analysis of de-identified polysomnography encounter data from Nationwide Children's Hospital Sleep DataBank (2017-2019).
• Descriptive statistics were used to characterize a sample of 3053 unique pediatric participants.
• Chi-square tests and multiple regression analyses were employed to assess associations and predictive relationships.

Main Results:

• Gastrointestinal disorders were prevalent in children with autism.
• A significant association was found between having autism and experiencing sleep disorders.
• Constipation, diarrhea, and nausea/vomiting were identified as significant predictors of sleep problems in children with autism, more so than in children without autism.

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight the increased prevalence of co-occurring GI symptoms and sleep problems in children with autism.
• There is a clinical need for sleep evaluations in children presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly those with autism.
• Further research into the gut-brain axis interactions in children with autism is warranted.