Autism comorbidities show elevated female-to-male odds ratios and are associated with the age of first autism diagnosis
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Objective: To investigate the association between the comorbidity rates in autism and sex, birth year and the age at which autism was first diagnosed and compare the relative impact of each. Method: Using the Danish National Patient Registry, cumulative incidences up to the age of 16 for 11 comorbid conditions (psychosis, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, tic disorders, sleep disorders or intellectual disability) were calculated for individuals with autism (N = 16,126) and non-autism individuals (N = 654,977). Individuals were further stratified based on the age at the first autism diagnoses and comorbid diagnoses up to the age of 16 were compared. Results: Most comorbidities were significantly associated with birth year and sex. Female/male odds ratios for 8 of 11 comorbid conditions were up to 67% higher than the corresponding odds ratios in the non-autism population, including conditions that are generally more common in males than in females as well as conditions that are more common in females. All comorbidity rates were significantly associated with the age at the first autism diagnosis, which was a stronger predictor than sex and birth year for 8 conditions. Conclusions: Comorbidity rates for females exceed what would be expected based on the sex ratios among non-autistic individuals, indicating that the association between autism and comorbidity is stronger in females. Comorbidity rates are also highly dependent on the age at the first autism diagnosis, which may contribute to autism heterogeneity in research and clinical practice.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Tidsskrift | Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica |
Vol/bind | 144 |
Udgave nummer | 5 |
Sider (fra-til) | 475-486 |
Antal sider | 12 |
ISSN | 0001-690X |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - nov. 2021 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:
EMR was supported by grants from the Ivan Nielsen Foundation and the Sofie Foundation (Denmark) and Brain Canada (MIRI2015‐3736) and M&R Gosselin autism research chair (Canada). KWM is supported by the Lundbeck Foundation and the Weimann Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ID: 373714993