Symptom severity in autism spectrum disorder is related to the frequency and severity of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy: a retrospective case-control study.
Andrew J O Whitehouse, Gail A Alvares, Dominique Cleary and 5 others
PMID 29951183WHAT IT FOUND
In children with autism, more severe maternal nausea and vomiting during pregnancy was associated with more severe social and communication difficulties.
Children of mothers who reported daily nausea and vomiting had the most severe symptoms. This retrospective report cannot show cause.
Key findings
01More severe maternal nausea and vomiting during pregnancy was associated with more pronounced social difficulties in children with ASD.
02More severe maternal nausea and vomiting during pregnancy was associated with greater language and communication difficulties on the CCC-2.
03The most severe form of nausea and vomiting was reported by 31.67% of mothers of females with ASD and 17.62% of mothers of males with ASD.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Nausea and vomiting were reported by mothers on average 8 years after the pregnancy, so recall may be inaccurate. The nausea and vomiting scale was created for this study and has not been broadly validated. The scale did not record the timing or duration of nausea and vomiting. The study did not measure pregnancy hormones, so it cannot show that hormones explain the association. Analyses by sex were underpowered because only 60 females were included. The study only included children who already had an autism diagnosis, so it cannot show whether nausea and vomiting increase the chance of having a child with autism. The authors state that replication is needed before further conclusions.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that nausea and vomiting during pregnancy cause or predict autism severity. The study only compared mothers' retrospective reports with later symptom scores in children already diagnosed with autism, and the authors say replication is needed.