Relation between blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity and autistic spectrum disorders: a population-based study.
Children with blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)--who are at greatly increased risk of cerebral damage--have been noted to have a high rate of autistic symptoms, but systematic controlled studies have been lacking. A controlled population-based study was performed; one group was blind due to ROP (N=27) and the other was congenitally blind due to hereditary retinal disease (N=14). Fifteen of the 27 children with ROP had autistic disorder. All these children were mentally retarded and about one-third of them had cerebral palsy. In the comparison group, two of the 14 children had autistic disorder. It is concluded that there is a strong association between ROP and autistic disorder. The association is most probably mediated by brain damage and is largely independent of the blindness per se.
Ek
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Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm, Sweden.
Fernell
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Jacobson
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Gillberg
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D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology