Estimated Nutrient Intake and Association With Psychiatric and Sleep Problems in Autistic Youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study.
Petya D Radoeva, Elizabeth A Li, Christopher H Legere and 3 others
PMID 40329546WHAT IT FOUND
In autistic youth, after checking many tests at once, estimated nutrient intake showed no links to psychiatric or sleep scores.
Exploratory results suggested low vitamin C and combined low vitamin B6, vitamin C, and iron intake may be linked to clinical-range symptoms.
Key findings
01The main analysis did not reach statistical significance after correction for multiple comparisons.
02In exploratory analysis, estimated low vitamin C intake was associated with a relative risk ratio of 3.053 (CI: 1.307–7.129) for an anxious/depressed T-score in the clinically significant range.
03Estimated insufficient intake of vitamin B6, vitamin C, and iron together was associated with a relative risk of 3.818 for an elevated anxious/depressed T-score (n = 154; Pearson’s χ2 = 10.076, p = 0.002).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The autism diagnosis was based on parental report only. Estimated nutrient intake came from parental recall of food intake over the last week, not a prospective food record. The dataset had no blood levels of micronutrients. Many statistical tests were performed, and after correction for multiple comparisons the main associations did not reach statistical significance. The analyses were exploratory, and the sleep composite score had no clinical threshold for categorizing risk. The sample was 173 autistic youth after one participant was removed for multiple missing food questionnaire responses. The analysis used data completed at the Year 2 visit, so it describes associations at that time point.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists research support from the U.S. Government, non-P.H.S., and N.I.H. extramural funding. No author conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the exploratory relative risk ratios as proof that low nutrient intake causes anxiety or sleep problems. The main analysis did not reach statistical significance after correction, and the study did not measure blood nutrient levels.