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A Qualitative and Quantitative Review of Obstetric Complications and Autistic Disorder

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Abstract

To investigate the possible association of obstetric complications and autistic disorder, we performed a review of case-control studies of any obstetric complication in autistic disorder. If the odds ratio = {(Number of cases with autistic disorder with any obstetric complication)/(Number of cases with autistic disorder without any obstetric complication)}/{(Number of controls without autistic disorder with any obstetric complication)/(Number of controls without autistic disorder without any obstetric complication)} <1, then there are more complications in controls; =1, then complications are equal in cases and controls; and >1, then there are more complications in cases. Most publications do not provide the raw data to calculate the odds ratio. Many calculated odds ratios support the hypothesis that cases with autism have more obstetric complications. Further investigation is warranted to clarify the relationships between obstetric complications and autism and related conditions in the general population worldwide.

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Acknowledgments

This research is sponsored by the Essel Foundation, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF), and the Tourette Syndrome Foundation (TSA), Inc., and the Department of Psychiatry of Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University School of Medicine. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of Bellevue Hospital Center and the Health and Hospitals Corporation of the City of New York. We thank the Ehrman Medical Library of the New York University School of Medicine and the Clarence E. de la Chapelle Medical Library of Bellevue Hospital Center for assistance with the literature search and with obtaining the articles. Dr. Brašić is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Greater Washington Chapter of the Tourette Syndrome Association in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Brašić is a fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) in Washington, DC.

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  1. Division of Nuclear Medicine, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center, Room 3245, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD, 21287-0807, USA

    James Robert Brašić

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    James Robert Brašić & Julie A. Holland

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Correspondence to James Robert Brašić.

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Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 97th Annual Scientific Assembly of the Southern Medical Association in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 6–8, 2003 (Brašić et al. 2003), the weekly meeting of Hopkins Toastmasters, Toastmasters International, Club 4728, Area 22, Division B, District 18, Baltimore, Maryland, on July 17, 2005, and the Third Annual Psychiatry Research Day of the Department of Psychiatry of the New York University School of Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, on September 21, 2005.

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Brašić, J.R., Holland, J.A. A Qualitative and Quantitative Review of Obstetric Complications and Autistic Disorder. J Dev Phys Disabil 19, 337–364 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-007-9054-8

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