Gastrointestinal Symptoms in 2- to 5-Year-Old Children in the Study to Explore Early Development

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 51; no. 11; pp. 3806 - 3817
• Main Authors: Reynolds, Ann M., Soke, Gnakub N., Sabourin, Katherine R., Croen, Lisa A., Daniels, Julie L., Fallin, M. Daniele, Kral, Tanja V. E., Lee, Li- Ching, Newschaffer, Craig J., Pinto-Martin, Jennifer A., Schieve, Laura A., Sims, Amy, Wiggins, Lisa, Levy, Susan E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algorithms; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder; Behavior Problems; Behavior Rating Scales; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Caregivers; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child Behavior; Child Development; Child, Preschool; Children; Communication (Thought Transfer); Complications and side effects; Control Groups; Demographic aspects; Developmental Delays; Developmental Disabilities; Developmental Disabilities - diagnosis; Developmental Disabilities - epidemiology; Developmentally delayed children; Diagnosis; Diaries; Disease Control; Down Syndrome; Etiology; Gastrointestinal diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases - diagnosis; Gastrointestinal Diseases - epidemiology; Health aspects; Health care management; Humans; Meta Analysis; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pain; Parent Surveys; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Preschool Children; Prevalence; Psychology; Public Health; Questionnaires; Risk factors; Sleep; Sleep disorders; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); World Problems; United States; Preschool; Gastrointestinal; Developmental delay; Autism spectrum disorder
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04786-9

Gastrointestinal symptoms (GIS) are commonly reported in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This multi-site study evaluated the prevalence of GIS in preschool-aged children with ASD/(n = 672), with other developmental delays (DD)/(n = 938), and children in the general population (POP)/(n = 851). After adjusting for covariates, children in the ASD group were over 3 times more likely to have parent-reported GIS than the POP group, and almost 2 times more likely than the DD group. Children with GIS from all groups had more behavioral and sleep problems. Within the ASD group, children with developmental regression had more GIS than those without; however, there were no differences in autism severity scores between children with and without GIS. These findings have implications for clinical management.