Extremely preterm birth and autistic traits in young adulthood: the EPICure study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A high prevalence of autism spectrum disorder is reported in children born extremely preterm (EP), but an even larger proportion of survivors are affected by subclinical difficulties than meet diagnostic criteria. The aims of this study were to investigate autistic traits associated with the broader autism phenotype in a cohort of young adults born EP, and explore how these traits relate to emotion recognition, empathy and autism symptom presentation in childhood. The prevalence of autism diagnoses was also investigated.

Methods

One hundred and twenty-nine young adults born before 26 weeks of gestation and 65 term-born controls participated in the 19-year follow-up phase of the EPICure studies. In addition to a clinical interview, participants completed the Broade

SUBMITTER: O'Reilly H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8101117 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature