The Role of Prenatal, Obstetric and Neonatal Factors in the Development of Autism

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 41; no. 7; pp. 891 - 902
• Main Authors: Dodds, Linda, Fell, Deshayne B., Shea, Sarah, Armson, B. Anthony, Allen, Alexander C., Bryson, Susan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-07-2011; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antenatal; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; Autistic Disorder - etiology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child clinical studies; Children; Clinical Diagnosis; Cohort Studies; Databases, Factual; Developmental disorders; Epidemiology; Etiology; Female; Foreign Countries; Genetic aspects; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetic susceptibility; Genetics; Hospitals; Humans; Infantile autism; Infants (Newborn); Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Neurosciences; Nova Scotia; Obesity; Obstetrics; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnant women; Prenatal Care; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public Health; Public Schools; Quality Assurance; Quality Control; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Canada; North America; America; Nova Scotia; Prenatal; Pregnancy; Autism; Neonatal; Cohort; Epidemiology; Human; Preschool age; Social environment; Mental health; Infant; Developmental disorder; Maternal diseases; Genetic determinism; Obstetrics; Retrospective; School age; Follow up study; Cohort study; Adolescent; Genetics; Child; Public health
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-010-1114-8

We conducted a linked database cohort study of infants born between 1990 and 2002 in Nova Scotia, Canada. Diagnoses of autism were identified from administrative databases with relevant diagnostic information to 2005. A factor representing genetic susceptibility was defined as having an affected sibling or a mother with a history of a psychiatric or neurologic condition. Among 129,733 children, there were 924 children with an autism diagnosis. The results suggest that among those with low genetic susceptibility, some maternal and obstetric factors may have an independent role in autism etiology whereas among genetically susceptible children, these factors appear to play a lesser role. The role of pre-pregnancy obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy on autism risk require further investigation.