PTOTSLPCohortAutism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research2025

Comparative Analysis of Phenotypic and Genotypic Differences Between Individuals Affected by Regressive and Non-Regressive Autism: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Seyed Hassan Tonekaboni, Alana Iaboni, Brett Trost and 12 others

PMID 40177835

WHAT IT FOUND

Children with autism who lost skills showed lower IQ and daily living abilities than those who did not.

Mental health scores were identical. Clinicians should anticipate greater cognitive and adaptive support needs for patients with a history of skill loss.

Key findings

01Participants with a history of skill loss had significantly lower full-scale IQ and composite adaptive behavior scores compared to those without.

02There were no significant differences in internalizing or externalizing mental health symptoms between the groups.

03Epilepsy was significantly more prevalent in the group with a history of skill loss.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs

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What it does not show

The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if the skill loss caused the lower abilities or if children with lower abilities were more prone to losing skills. Data was collected for a different purpose, so it may lack the detail needed to fully understand the nature of the skill loss or medical conditions. The genomic analysis was underpowered, meaning it could not reliably detect small genetic differences between the groups.

Declared interests

One author has received consultation fees and grant funding from several pharmaceutical companies including Roche, Ono, and Sanofi-Aventis. The study was funded by the Ontario Brain Institute.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume that a history of skill loss predicts worse mental health outcomes. The study found no difference in anxiety or behavior problems between the groups; the deficits were specifically in cognitive and daily living skills.

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