Sex Differences in Autistic Youth Born Extremely Preterm

Tyler C. McFayden, Clare Harrop, Kyle Roell, Robert M. Joseph, Rebecca C. Fry & T. Michael O’Shea

Purpose

To evaluate sex differences in autistic traits in youth born extremely preterm (EP; 23–27 weeks) who were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 10-years.

 

Method

A longitudinal cohort design from the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn Study (ELGAN) followed N = 857 EP infants from birth through 10-years. EP infants later diagnosed with ASD (N = 61, 20 females) participated in the study. Group differences were evaluated via inferential and Bayesian statistics (values > 1 suggest evidence for alternate hypothesis) on ASD screeners (M-CHAT at 2-years, SCQ and SRS-2 at 10-years), and gold-standard diagnostic measures (ADOS-2, ADI-R) at 10-years.

 

Results

Males scored significantly higher than females on measures of Social Affect from the ADOS-2, t(34.27)=-2.20, BF10 = 2.33, and measures of Repetitive and Restricted Behaviors from the ADI-R, t(40.52)=-2.85, BF10 = 5.26. Bayesian estimates suggested marginal evidence for sex differences in Nonverbal Communication, t(30.66)=-1.81, BF10 = 1.25, and Verbal Communication, t(24.64)=-1.89, BF10 = 1.39, from the ADI-R, wherein males scored higher than females. No statistically significant sex differences were identified on any of the ASD screeners at 2 (M-CHAT) or 10 years (SCQ). No significant sex differences were observed on any subscales of the SRS at 10 years.

目的

评估极早产儿（EP；23-27 周）青少年自闭症特征的性别差异，这些青少年在 10 岁时被诊断出患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）。

 

研究方法

采用极低妊娠年龄新生儿研究（ELGAN）的纵向队列设计，对 N = 857 名极度早产儿进行了从出生到 10 年的跟踪研究。后来被诊断为 ASD 的 EP 婴儿（N = 61，20 名女性）参与了研究。通过推论和贝叶斯统计（值 > 1 表明有证据支持另一假设）对 ASD 筛查指标（2 岁时的 M-CHAT、10 岁时的 SCQ 和 SRS-2）和 10 岁时的黄金标准诊断指标（ADOS-2、ADI-R）进行了群体差异评估。

 

结果

在ADOS-2的社交情感测量中，男性得分明显高于女性，t(34.27)=-2.20, BF10 = 2.33；在ADI-R的重复和受限行为测量中，男性得分明显高于女性，t(40.52)=-2.85, BF10 = 5.26。贝叶斯估计结果表明，ADI-R 的非语言沟通（t(30.66)=-1.81, BF10 = 1.25）和语言沟通（t(24.64)=-1.89, BF10 = 1.39）方面存在边缘性性别差异，其中男性得分高于女性。在 2 年（M-CHAT）或 10 年（SCQ）的任何 ASD 筛查指标上，均未发现明显的性别差异。10 年后，SRS 的任何分量表均未发现明显的性别差异。