Reproductive stoppage in autism spectrum disorder in a population of 2.5 million individuals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It has been suggested that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) curtail their reproduction, a phenomenon known as reproductive stoppage. To investigate the presence of reproductive stoppage, we followed the reproduction in mothers of children with or without an ASD diagnosis using Swedish population-based registries.

Methods

We followed all families with first child born in 1987 or later. In total 2,521,103 children, nested within 1,270,017 mothers, were included. Exposure was presence of ASD diagnosis in earlier born siblings, and outcome was considered as (1) inter-pregnancy interval and (2) number of subsequent children.

Results

Analyses of inter-pregnancy intervals showed that the association differed across birth orders, with a lower

SUBMITTER: Kuja-Halkola R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6907273 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature