In a recent epidemiologic survey conducted in Utah, 241 autistic patients (DSM-III criteria) were found. Medical records of 233 autistics were surveyed for the presence of 36 potentially pathologic prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors. These results were compared with those of an identical survey of 62 of their nonautistic siblings, with the results of four previously published surveys, and with normative data. No potentially pathologic factor or group of factors occurred significantly more frequently among the autistic patients. Also, previous observations of significant differences in the occurrence of certain factors in the histories single vs multiple siblings with autism were not confirmed, with the exception of increased viral-type illness during gestation in single-incidence cases. Thus, the etiology of the brain pathology that characteristically disrupts normal development and produces the syndrome of autism remains obscure. Other data from the epidemiologic survey, however, suggest that the role of genetic factors needs to be explored further.
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October 1990
Articles|
October 01 1990
The UCLA-University of Utah Epidemiologic Survey of Autism: Prenatal, Perinatal, and Postnatal Factors
Anne Mason-Brothers;
Anne Mason-Brothers
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Edward R. Ritvo;
Edward R. Ritvo
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Carmen Pingree;
Carmen Pingree
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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P. Brent Petersen;
P. Brent Petersen
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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William R. Jenson;
William R. Jenson
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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William M. McMahon;
William M. McMahon
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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B. J. Freeman;
B. J. Freeman
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Lynn B. Jorde;
Lynn B. Jorde
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Mary J. Spencer;
Mary J. Spencer
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Amy Mo;
Amy Mo
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Anne Ritvo
Anne Ritvo
From the Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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Pediatrics (1990) 86 (4): 514–519.
Article history
Received:
August 28 1989
Accepted:
October 27 1989
Citation
Anne Mason-Brothers, Edward R. Ritvo, Carmen Pingree, P. Brent Petersen, William R. Jenson, William M. McMahon, B. J. Freeman, Lynn B. Jorde, Mary J. Spencer, Amy Mo, Anne Ritvo; The UCLA-University of Utah Epidemiologic Survey of Autism: Prenatal, Perinatal, and Postnatal Factors. Pediatrics October 1990; 86 (4): 514–519. 10.1542/peds.86.4.514
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