ERIC Number: EJ1293727
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Apr
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-3613
EISSN: N/A
Increased Prevalence of Non-Communicable Physical Health Conditions among Autistic Adults
Weir, Elizabeth; Allison, Carrie; Warrier, Varun; Baron-Cohen, Simon
Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, v25 n3 p681-694 Apr 2021
Autistic individuals may be at risk of premature mortality, and physical health comorbidity increases this risk; however, most studies fail to include older autistic adults or consider lifestyle-related factors that affect health. We developed an anonymous, online physical health survey. The final sample included n = 2368 individuals (mean age = 41.42), and of these, n = 1156 were autistic individuals (mean age = 40.98). We utilized three sex-stratified statistical models to determine the prevalence of cancer, cardiovascular conditions, respiratory conditions, and diabetes. All three models indicate that autistic females are more likely to have cardiovascular conditions, respiratory conditions, asthma, low blood pressure, arrhythmias, and prediabetes than non-autistic females, and autistic males are more likely to have arrhythmias than non-autistic males; these results suggest that autistic individuals carry increased risks for these conditions when compared to the general population, even after controlling for age, ethnicity, education level, body mass index, smoking, and alcohol use. Further, these risks may differ depending on biological sex for autistic individuals. Autistic adults, and particularly autistic females, have greater and wider-ranging risks than previously thought, even after controlling for demographic and lifestyle-related factors. Although this is a large sample of autistic adults across the lifespan, future research should employ larger, population-based samples to confirm these findings.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Adults, At Risk Persons, Physical Health, Cancer, Heart Disorders, Diseases, Diabetes, Gender Differences, Individual Characteristics, Life Style, Demography, Comorbidity, Racial Differences, Ethnicity, Educational Attainment, Place of Residence, Foreign Countries, Body Composition, Body Weight, Body Height, Smoking, Drinking, Incidence
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States; United Kingdom; Germany; Australia; Canada; Ireland; Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A