Abstract
This study was conducted to assess this association between early life antibiotic exposure and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in later life. The results showed that early life antibiotic exposure was associated with an increased risk of ASD (OR = 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07–1.21) or ADHD (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.1–1.27). However, this association for ASD (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.97–1.11) or ADHD (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.94–1.02) disappeared when data from sibling-matched studies were pooled. The statistically significant association between early life antibiotic exposure and ASD or ADHD in later life can be partially explained by unmeasured genetic and familial confounding factors.
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This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LY20H090012).
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H.Y.J. and H.Y.Y. conceived the study and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. Y.Y.Z, L.Y.P. and X.Z. made substantial contributions to its design, acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Yu, Hy., Zhou, Yy., Pan, Ly. et al. Early Life Antibiotic Exposure and the Subsequent Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 2236–2246 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05121-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05121-6