Frequencies of Allergic Diseases Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Objective: Allergic diseases and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect millions of children worldwide and the frequencies of these diseases are increasing. Although some genetic and environmental factors have been implicated, the exact reasons of this increase have not been determined yet. In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequencies of allergic diseases among children with ASD. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire containing 23 questions related to asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and food allergy adapted from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was used and the questionnaires were filled out by the parents of children with ASD and controls. Results: The study and control groups comprised 59 and 50 children respectively. Allergic rhinitis was diagnosed in 12%, atopic dermatitis in 10.1%, food allergy in 8.4% and asthma in 6.8% of the children with ASD; and 16%, 6%, 8% and 10.0% respectively in the control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that frequency of allergic diseases among children with ASD are not different than controls.

Association between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Food Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis

“…Sample sizes ranged from 39 to 199,520 participants, and the age at outcome ranged from 0 to 26 years. Eleven studies were performed in the United States [Akintunde et al, 2015; Alexeeff et al, 2017; Chaidez et al, 2014; Garg & Silverberg, 2014; Gurney et al, 2006; Harville et al, 2019; Kushak et al, 2016; Lyall et al, 2015; Tan et al, 2019; Xu et al, 2018; Zerbo et al, 2015], two were performed in Iran [Khakzad et al, 2012; Malek et al, 2019]), one was performed Norway [Bresnahan et al, 2015], and one was performed in Turkey [Akpinar et al, 2019].…”

“…Finally, 15 studies were included in the research, and 14 studies were included in the meta-analysis. For the diagnostic criteria of FA, five studies [Akintunde et al, 2015;Alexeeff et al, 2017;Harville et al, 2019;Lyall et al, 2015;Zerbo et al, 2015] used medical records, eight [Akpinar et al, 2019;Bresnahan et al, 2015;Chaidez et al, 2014;Garg & Silverberg, 2014;Harville et al, 2019;Khakzad et al, 2012;Malek et al, 2019;Xu et al, 2018] used questionnaires, and three [Gurney et al, 2006;Kushak et al, 2016;Tan et al, 2019] used self-reports or interviews.…”

“…Quality assessment results are reported in Table 1. Eight case-control studies [Akintunde et al, 2015;Akpinar et al, 2019;Alexeeff et al, 2017;Chaidez et al, 2014;Kushak et al, 2016;Lyall et al, 2015;Malek et al, 2019;Zerbo et al, 2015] were of high quality, one cohort study [Bresnahan et al, 2015] was of low quality and none of the cross-sectional [Garg et al, 2014;Gurney et al, 2006;Tan et al, 2019;Xu et al, 2018] and cohort [Bresnahan et al, 2015] studies was of high quality.…”

“…The Prevalence of FA in Participants with ASD Fourteen studies [Akintunde et al, 2015;Akpinar et al, 2019;Alexeeff et al, 2017;Bresnahan et al, 2015;Chaidez et al, 2014;Garg & Silverberg, 2014;Gurney et al, 2006;Harville et al, 2019;Kushak et al, 2016;Lyall et al, 2015;Malek et al, 2019;Tan et al, 2019;Xu et al, 2018;Zerbo et al, 2015] were included in the metaanalysis. The pooled prevalence of FA in participants with ASD was 13% (95% CI: 0.10-0.17), while the pooled prevalence of FA in controls was 5% (95% CI: 0.04-0.07) (data shown in Figs.…”

Early Childhood Allergy Linked With Development of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…[10][11][12][13] Indeed, several studies did investigate the association between allergic disorders and ADHD and/or ASD with controversial results. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Differences in size of the studies, follow-up period and diagnostic criteria which were used in the various studies as well as the specific types of allergic disorders that were investigated are most probably the causes for the conflicting reports.…”