Early autism risk factors: a cohort study of children born very preterm at 5-years
TL;DR
Early screening for children with these risk factors can facilitate early intervention for those at most risk for poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes, and can facilitate early intervention for those at most risk for poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Abstract
Objective
Explore the association of prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal risk factors with autism risk at 5-years corrected age in very preterm (VPT) children. STUDY
Design
Data from a longitudinal cohort study of 315 VPT and 172 term-born children at a US-based academic medical center were analyzed, exploring antecedents of autism risk using elastic net regression.
Results
More children born VPT (8.9%) had a Social Communication Questionnaire score associated with autism (i.e., SCQ ≥ 15) than term-born controls (2.9%; p = 0.012). For VPT children, cerebellar abnormalities at term-equivalent age (OR = 1.339, 95% CI = 1.010–1.778) and moderate-severe histologic chorioamnionitis (OR = 4.148, CI = 1.294–13.368) were significantly associated with autism risk, in addition to male sex and social risk. VPT children with SCQ ≥ 15 had poorer adaptive, behavioral, cognitive, and executive functioning (all ps < 0.001).
Conclusion
Early screening for children with these risk factors can facilitate early intervention for those at most risk for poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes.