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WEDNESDAY, June 9 (HealthDayNews) -- Mothers of children with autism are more likely to be older and to have had obstetric problems during pregnancy, labor and delivery, says an Australian study in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
These obstetric complications are likely to be related to underlying genetic factors, the study said.
The researchers compared medical information about 465 children, 481 siblings of children with autism disorders, and a control group of 1,313 children without autism. The researchers also compared obstetric information for the mothers of the children in all three groups.
"Compared with control subjects, (autism) cases had significantly older parents and were more likely to be firstborn. Case mothers had greater frequencies of threatened abortion, epidural caudal anesthesia use, labor induction, and a labor duration of less than one hour. Cases were more likely to have experienced fetal distress, been delivered by elective or emergency Caesarean section, and had an Apgar score of less than 6 at one minute (after birth)," the study authors wrote.
"The strongest findings were increased maternal age and a threatened abortion during pregnancy. It is unlikely that single factors or events cause autistic disorders, although it is possible that early non-genetic influences may act on the casual pathway for some cases. The observed complications are generally nonspecific and cannot predict autism development," the authors concluded.
More information
The Autism Society of America has more about autism.
(SOURCE: JAMA/Archives journals, news release, June 7, 2004)
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