Association between Prenatal Environmental Factors and Child Autism: A Case Control Study in Tianjin, China.

Lei Gao; Qian Qian XI; Jun WU; Yu Han; Wei Dai; Yuan Yuan SU; Xin Zhang

Return

Association between Prenatal Environmental Factors and Child Autism: A Case Control Study in Tianjin, China.

Author: Lei GAO ¹ ; Qian Qian XI ¹ ; Jun WU ² ; Yu HAN ¹ ; Wei DAI ¹ ; Yuan Yuan SU ¹ ; Xin ZHANG ¹
Author Information

1. Dept. Maternal, Child & Adolescence Health of School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China.
2. Program in Public Health and department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, USA.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Autism; Case-control study; Child health; Environmental risk factors
MeSH: Adolescent; Air Conditioning; Air Pollution; adverse effects; Autistic Disorder; epidemiology; etiology; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; China; epidemiology; Delivery, Obstetric; adverse effects; methods; Depression; complications; Diet; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Income; Logistic Models; Male; Maternal Exposure; Obstetric Labor Complications; epidemiology; Paternal Exposure; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; epidemiology; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires
From: Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2015;28(9):642-650
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between autism and prenatal environmental risk factors.
METHODSA case-control study was conducted among 193 children with autism from the special educational schools and 733 typical development controls matched by age and gender by using questionnaire in Tianjin from 2007 to 2012. Statistical analysis included quick unbiased efficient statistical tree (QUEST) and logistic regression in SPSS 20.0.
RESULTSThere were four predictors by QUEST and the logistic regression analysis, maternal air conditioner use during pregnancy (OR=0.316, 95% CI: 0.215-0.463) was the single first-level node (χ²=50.994, P=0.000); newborn complications (OR=4.277, 95% CI: 2.314-7.908) and paternal consumption of freshwater fish (OR=0.383, 95% CI: 0.256-0.573) were second-layer predictors (χ²=45.248, P=0.000; χ²=24.212, P=0.000); and maternal depression (OR=4.822, 95% CI: 3.047-7.631) was the single third-level predictor (χ²=23.835, P=0.000). The prediction accuracy of the tree was 89.2%.
CONCLUSIONThe air conditioner use during pregnancy and paternal freshwater fish diet might be beneficial for the prevention of autism, while newborn complications and maternal depression might be the risk factors.