title: Co-occurrence of autism and asthma in a nationally-representative sample of children in the United States.
abstract: Few large epidemiological studies have examined the co-occurrence of autism and asthma. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine this association using the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health dataset (n = 77,951). We controlled for confounders and tested for autism-secondhand smoke interaction. Prevalence of asthma and autism were 14.5 % (n = 11,335) and 1.81 % (n = 1,412) respectively. Unadjusted odds ratio (OR) for asthma among autistic children was 1.35 (95 % CI 1.18-1.55). Adjusting for covariates (age, gender, body mass index, race, brain injury, secondhand smoke and socio-economic status) attenuated the OR to 1.19 (95 % CI 1.03-1.36). Autism-secondhand smoke interaction was insignificant (p = 0.38). Asthma is approximately 35 % more common in autistic children; screening may be an efficient approach to reduce risk of morbidity due to asthma.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 715 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA, skotey@schoolph.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kotey
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ertel
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Whitcomb
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution