Abstract
Objectives
This study assessed prenatal risk factors that contribute significantly to autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Methods
A total of 400 online questionnaires were sent to the mothers who had children not older than 12 years of age. Only 76.25% of the questionnaires were fully complete, with 160 of the 305 mothers had a child with ASD while 145 had a neurotypical child. The risk factors were analyzed using binary logistic regression.
Results
The results showed four factors that contributed significantly (p < 0.05) to an increased risk of ASD. Mothers with relatives having ASD increased the risk five times to having a child with ASD. Mothers who were exposed to anesthesia and to X-ray in the first trimester also had a risk five times to having a child with ASD. Mothers who took folic acid during the first trimester decreased their risk 2.9 times to having a child with ASD.
Conclusions
Further studies are needed to verify these findings and to investigate the effects of multiple factors on ASD.
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TN supervised the data collection, drafted the manuscript, performed the statistical analysis, and led the analysis and interpretation of the data; NM conceived the study, led in its design and coordination, participated in the interpretation of the data, and helped to draft the manuscript; LS helped to conceive of the study and participated in the design and interpretation of the data; DM helped to conceive the study and participated in the design and interpretation of the data. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants followed the ethical standards of Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.
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Al-maqati, T.N., Al-Otaibi, N.M., Al-Merbati, L.S. et al. Prenatal Factors Influencing the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Adv Neurodev Disord 5, 71–76 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-020-00178-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-020-00178-3