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. 2023 Nov;62(11):1335-1341.
doi: 10.1177/00099228231156774. Epub 2023 Mar 15.

Gastrointestinal and Sleep Issues in Toddlers With Autism Versus Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Katrine Zlatnik  1 , Anna Milliken  1 , Meredith Weaver  1 , Georgios Sideridis  1 , Holly Harris  2 , Elizabeth Harstad  1
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Gastrointestinal and Sleep Issues in Toddlers With Autism Versus Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Katrine Zlatnik et al. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are frequently associated with gastrointestinal symptoms (GIS) and sleep issues, but there are insufficient data on the occurrence of these symptoms in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with other NDDs. We abstracted data on 500 children aged 18 to 36 months with ASD and 146 children aged 18 to 47 months with non-ASD NDDs to compare the frequency of these symptoms. In the overall sample, there was a high rate of GIS (46.0%) and sleep difficulties (22.6%). In age-adjusted analyses, children with non-ASD NDDs were more likely to have GIS (61.0% vs 41.6%; adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.35; 95% confidence interval = 1.56-3.56) and sleep difficulties (34.9% vs 19.0%; adjusted OR = 2.08; 95% confidence interval = 1.33-3.26) compared with those with ASD. These findings demonstrate the need to assess these symptoms in all young children with developmental concerns to provide appropriate guidance to their families.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; gastrointestinal symptoms; global developmental delay; neurodevelopmental disorders; sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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