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Friday, May 16, 2008
Champagne Terrace/Bordeaux (Novotel London West)
9:30 AM
Background:
Older parents, being first born, greater frequencies of threatened abortion and birth complications, e.g., fetal distress were more frequently reported for children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), in contrast to healthy controls.
Objectives:
We aimed to investigate perinatal and developmental characteristics of children with PDD in a sample from a clinical specialty setting to see whether these factors were associated with the presence of a comorbidity and the type of PDD.
Methods:
A detailed form inquiring information about the developmental and perinatal history of the child was filled by the parents together with a child and adolescent psychiatrist or a pediatrician, before a diagnosis was established according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. The sample consisted of 230 children (39 F 191 M) who received diagnoses of autistic disorder (N=144, 25 F 119M), and PDD NOS (N=86, 14 F 72 M).
Results:
A series of logistic regression analysis of the factors perinatal health, and developmental milestones indicated higher significant associations of being in the autistic disorder group (v. PDD-NOS group) with previous miscarriages (Wald score χ2=7.9 p<.01), mother’s age older at birth (χ2=4.6 p<.05), the (later) ages of sitting without support (χ2=4.6 p<.05) and crawling (χ2=5.9 p<.05). Psychosocial adversities or neuropsychiatric findings (e.g. hypotonia) were not associated with the diagnostic status.
63 of these children also had at least one comorbid disorder, 38 % of the group with comorbidity had a diagnosis of PDD NOS (N=24), and 62 % had definite autistic disorder
Conclusions:
Delays in early motor development, a threat of miscarriage during pregnancy, and older age of mother were associated with being at the more severe end of the autistic spectrum diagnoses. This status was also associated with carrying at least one comorbid diagnosis.
Older parents, being first born, greater frequencies of threatened abortion and birth complications, e.g., fetal distress were more frequently reported for children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), in contrast to healthy controls.
Objectives:
We aimed to investigate perinatal and developmental characteristics of children with PDD in a sample from a clinical specialty setting to see whether these factors were associated with the presence of a comorbidity and the type of PDD.
Methods:
A detailed form inquiring information about the developmental and perinatal history of the child was filled by the parents together with a child and adolescent psychiatrist or a pediatrician, before a diagnosis was established according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. The sample consisted of 230 children (39 F 191 M) who received diagnoses of autistic disorder (N=144, 25 F 119M), and PDD NOS (N=86, 14 F 72 M).
Results:
A series of logistic regression analysis of the factors perinatal health, and developmental milestones indicated higher significant associations of being in the autistic disorder group (v. PDD-NOS group) with previous miscarriages (Wald score χ2=7.9 p<.01), mother’s age older at birth (χ2=4.6 p<.05), the (later) ages of sitting without support (χ2=4.6 p<.05) and crawling (χ2=5.9 p<.05). Psychosocial adversities or neuropsychiatric findings (e.g. hypotonia) were not associated with the diagnostic status.
63 of these children also had at least one comorbid disorder, 38 % of the group with comorbidity had a diagnosis of PDD NOS (N=24), and 62 % had definite autistic disorder
Conclusions:
Delays in early motor development, a threat of miscarriage during pregnancy, and older age of mother were associated with being at the more severe end of the autistic spectrum diagnoses. This status was also associated with carrying at least one comorbid diagnosis.