Does Autism Diagnosis Age or Symptom Severity Differ Among Children According to Whether Assisted Reproductive Technology was Used to Achieve Pregnancy?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Laura A. Schieve, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Christine Fountain, Fordham University; Sheree Boulet, Emory University; Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dmitry Kissin, Emory University; Denise Jamieson, Emory University; Catherine Rice, Emory University; Peter Bearman, Columbia University
• Language: English
• Date: 2015-09-01
• Publisher: Springer
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2015, The Author(s).
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2462-1
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 9
• Start Page: 2991
• End Page: 3003
• Grant/Funding Information: This research is partially supported by the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award program, part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, through Grant Number 1 DP1 OD003635-01 and the National Institutes of Mental Health Award Number R21MH096122.
• Keywords: PREVALENCE; Social Sciences; 2007 NATIONAL-SURVEY; ASSOCIATION; Psychology, Developmental; Infantile autism; BORN; OUTCOMES; Symptom severity; Psychology; Assisted reproductive technology; CALIFORNIA; SPECTRUM DISORDERS; Diagnosis age; SINGLETON; CONCEPTION; POPULATION
• Research Categories: Psychology, Physiological

Abstract

Previous studies report associations between conception with assisted reproductive technology (ART) and autism. Whether these associations reflect an ascertainment or biologic effect is undetermined. We assessed diagnosis age and initial autism symptom severity among >30,000 children with autism from a linkage study of California Department of Developmental Services records, birth records, and the National ART Surveillance System. Median diagnosis age and symptom severity levels were significantly lower for ART-conceived than non-ART-conceived children. After adjustment for differences in the socio-demographic profiles of the two groups, the diagnosis age differentials were greatly attenuated and there were no differences in autism symptomatology. Thus, ascertainment issues related to SES, not ART per se, are likely the driving influence of the differences we initially observed.