Comorbidity in autism spectrum disorders

Background:

Additional disorders are common in ASD but are still poorly defined. It is an issue of growing interest because of the implications on clinical ground, etiology and classification. There is still disagreement regarding the relationships betweem associted disorders and the core symptoms of ASD.
Objectives:

to evaluate the prevalence of associated conditions in a group of children with ASD and to  describe the clinical characteristics.

Methods:

56 children and adolescents with ASD, age 8.7+/-3.5, were further evaluated for the presence of associated disorders. Intellectual disability was present in the majority of patients, n=52 (96.5%). Assessment of additional symptoms was obtained using the following scales: Yale Global Tics Severity Scale (YGTSS), Children Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scales (CY-BOCS), Yale-Paris Self-Injurious Behavior Scale. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) were used for. Genetic and medical conditions were also screened. Standard electroencephalogram was performed in all participants.

Results:

9 children had epilepsy (16%), 15 (26%) children had epileptiform abnormalities without seizures. Tourette syndrome was found in 3 children (5.5%), Self Injury Behaviors in 2 children (3.5%). 3 boys (5.5%) had a known medical conditions adding to ASD as follows:1 had mild paraparesis and blindness. 1 boy had neurosensorial deafness and the last one had FRA-X syndrome.

Conclusions:

The prevalence rates of associated disorders in ASD found in this study are consistent with current reports. In this study the use of standardized scales was the first step to improve diagnostic reliability of associate diusoredrs in ASD