Current and lifetime somatic symptom burden among transition-aged autistic young adults.
Zachary J Williams, Katherine O Gotham
PMID 35019241WHAT IT FOUND
Transition-aged autistic adults report high rates of fatigue, sleep problems, and pain, with females reporting significantly more symptoms than males.
While these physical complaints strongly correlate with anxiety and depression, they do not independently predict lower quality of life once mental health is accounted for.
Key findings
0140.3% of the sample reported moderate or severe somatic symptom burden, with females (53.9%) reporting clinically significant distress at much higher rates than males (18.75%).
02Somatic symptom burden was strongly associated with depression and anxiety, and remained significantly predicted by autistic traits even after controlling for these mental health factors.
03Somatic symptom burden did not account for a significant amount of additional variance in quality of life beyond that explained by demographic factors, autistic traits, anxiety, and depression.
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 sample was female-predominant (61%), which may not represent the broader autistic population. There were no neurotypical control participants who completed the same modified questionnaire. The study could not determine which symptoms were attributable to diagnosed medical conditions versus functional origins. The modified questionnaire had a longer recall period than the standard PHQ-15, which may affect symptom endorsement rates. The study did not examine health care utilization or health anxiety.
Declared interests
One author has served as a consultant for Roche. The study was supported by the Simons Foundation (SPARK) and NIH grants.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that somatic symptoms are the primary cause of reduced quality of life in autistic young adults. The study found that anxiety and depression were stronger predictors of poor quality of life, and somatic symptoms did not add significant predictive value once these mental health factors were included.