Gastrointestinal Symptoms in 2- to 5-Year-Old Children in the Study to Explore Early Development.
Ann M Reynolds, Gnakub N Soke, Katherine R Sabourin and 11 others
PMID 33394243WHAT IT FOUND
Young children with autism had more parent-reported current and past gut symptoms than children with other developmental delays or general-population children.
Gut symptoms also occurred with more sleep, anxiety, aggression and attention concerns in all groups.
Key findings
01After accounting for other factors, children with ASD were more likely to have current overall parent-reported gut symptoms than children with DD or general-population children.
02When stool diary data were included, children with ASD were more likely than DD children to have overall gut symptoms, abdominal pain, and gas, but not vomiting or stool frequency and consistency.
03Across all children, gut symptoms were associated with sleep problems and more anxious/depressed, aggressive behavior, and attention problems.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The main gut symptom questionnaire was created for this study and was not validated. Clinical gastrointestinal diagnoses were not available. Only 64% of caregivers completed a stool diary, and only 51% completed it during a typical week. Caregivers who completed a stool diary were more likely to have children with higher cognitive scores, higher household income, and mothers with more education who were white non-Hispanic. Parents of children with ASD who were being treated for constipation were less likely to complete a stool diary than parents of DD or general-population children. Children with ASD were less likely to use a laxative or stool softener for constipation, which can make stool-diary-based constipation rates look lower. Parent recall bias is possible because gut symptoms are commonly believed to be frequent in autism.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that gut symptoms caused autism or that treating them would improve behavior or sleep. This observational study used parent-reported symptoms and only showed associations.