The Association Between Gastrointestinal Issues and Psychometric Scores in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Delays, Down Syndrome, and Typical Development.
Jennie Sotelo-Orozco, Irva Hertz-Picciotto
PMID 38739245WHAT IT FOUND
Frequent gastrointestinal issues, especially constipation, are linked to lower adaptive skills and more maladaptive behaviors in children with autism and developmental delays.
These symptoms were not associated with test scores in children with Down syndrome. Clinicians should screen for GI problems when behavior worsens.
Key findings
01Among children with ASD, frequent GI issues were associated with deficits in fine motor skills, lower adaptive behavior scores (communication, daily living, socialization, motor), and increased maladaptive behaviors.
02Among children with developmental delays (DD), frequent GI issues were associated with deficits in cognitive scores (fine motor, expressive language) and adaptive behavior, particularly in boys.
03In children with Down syndrome, frequent GI issues were not associated with any psychometric scores or maladaptive behaviors.
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
GI symptoms were parent-reported using an unvalidated questionnaire and not confirmed by medical evaluation. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine whether GI issues cause poorer scores or if children with more severe developmental disabilities are more prone to GI issues. The sample size for children with Down syndrome (n=91) was small, which may have limited the ability to detect associations in this group. There were fewer girls than boys in the ASD and TD groups, potentially affecting power for sex-specific analyses.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. No conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that treating GI issues will improve psychometric scores, as this is an observational study showing association, not causation. Furthermore, do not expect the same relationship in children with Down syndrome, where no association between frequent GI issues and test scores was found.