Assessment of medical morbidities in a rhesus monkey model of naturally occurring low sociality.

The study included only male monkeys, so findings may not apply to females. The low-social group may not have consistently represented the behavioral extreme of social functioning, potentially affecting non-trauma morbidity results. The etiology of traumatic injuries was difficult to fully account for without constant observation, leading to potential over- or under-representation of specific injury types. Psychological stress and personality factors could not be measured, which are known to influence health outcomes in monkeys. The study design cannot confirm causality; it is possible that a history of being attacked leads to social withdrawal rather than low sociality leading to attacks.

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Do not interpret the increased trauma rates in low-social monkeys as evidence that human patients with ASD are inherently more prone to self-injury or unintentional accidents. The study notes that injuries in these monkeys arose most consistently from intentional external sources (aggression from other monkeys), and the animal model's relevance to specific human injury etiologies is complex.