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Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
Fertility Therapies, Infertility and Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Nurses' Health Study II
Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, v 26(4), pp 361-372
01 Jul 2012
PMID: 22686388
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Background: An increasing number of women are utilizing fertility treatments, but little is known about their relation to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods: To determine the association between maternal fertility therapy use and risk of having a child with ASD, we conducted a nested case-control study within the Nurses' Health Study II (n = 116,430). Maternally reported diagnoses of ASD were confirmed through a supplementary questionnaire and, in a subgroup, the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Controls were randomly selected by frequency matching to case children's year of birth. Associations were examined by self-reported infertility and type of therapy using conditional logistic regression. Results: In all, 9% of the 507 cases and 7% of 2,529 controls indicated fertility therapy use for the index pregnancy. No significant associations with self-reported fertility therapies or history of infertility were seen in primary analyses. In subgroup analyses of women with maternal age =35 years (n = 1,020), artificial insemination was significantly associated with ASD; ovulation inducing drug (OID) use was significantly associated in crude but not adjusted analyses (odds ratio 1.81, 95% CI 0.963.42). Results were similar by diagnostic subgroup, though within the advanced maternal age group, OID and artificial insemination were significantly associated with Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder not-otherwise specified, but not autistic disorder. Conculsion: Assisted reproductive therapy and history of infertility did not increase risk of having a child with ASD in this study. However, the associations observed with OID and artificial insemination among older mothers, for whom these exposures are more common, warrant further investigation.
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Details
- Title
- Fertility Therapies, Infertility and Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Nurses' Health Study II
- Creators
- Kristen Lyall - Harvard UniversityDavid L. Pauls - Massachusetts General HospitalDonna Spiegelman - Harvard UniversitySusan L. Santangelo - Massachusetts General HospitalAlberto Ascherio - Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Publication Details
- Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, v 26(4), pp 361-372
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 12
- Grant note
- R01CA050385 / NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) 1788 / Autism Speaks Foundation NHS A-14917 / US Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC); U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000305121500014
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84862269651
- Other Identifier
- 991020099056204721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Pediatrics
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health