23458
Maternal Race-Ethnicity, Immigrant Status, Country of Birth, and the Odds of a Child with Autism

Saturday, May 13, 2017: 12:00 PM-1:40 PM
Golden Gate Ballroom (Marriott Marquis Hotel)
J. Fairthorne1, N. de Klerk2, H. Leonard3, L. A. Schieve4 and M. Yeargin-Allsopp4, (1)Telethon Kids Institute, Subiaco, Perth, WA, Australia, (2)Biostatistics, Telethon kids Institute, Perth, Australia, (3)Disability, Telethon Kids Institute, West Perth, AUSTRALIA, (4)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Background:

The risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) varies by maternal race-ethnicity, immigration status and birth region.

Objectives:

We aimed to estimate the odds of ASD with intellectual disability (ID) in the children of women by maternal race-ethnicity, immigration status and birth region whilst adjusting for maternal age, parity, socio-economic status, and birth year of the child.

Methods:

In this retrospective cohort study, Western Australian state registries and a study population of 134,204 mothers enabled us to examine the odds of ASD with intellectual disability (ID) in children born from 1994-2005, by maternal race-ethnicity, immigration status and birth region whilst adjusting for the traits described previously.

Results:

Indigenous women were 50% less likely to have a child with ASD with ID than Caucasian, non-immigrant women. Overall, immigrant women were 40% less likely to have a child with ASD with ID than non-immigrant women. However, Black women from East Africa had more than three and a half times the odds of ASD with ID in their children than Caucasian non-immigrant women.

Conclusions:

Research is implicated on risk and protective factors for ASD with ID in the children of immigrant women.