Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 Dec;42(12):2585-96. doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1515-y.
Sex differences were examined in 3-year-olds with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) ascertained from a high-risk cohort, and high- and low-risk comparison groups. Participants included 319 high-risk siblings and 129 low-risk controls. Eighty-five siblings were diagnosed with ASD, including 57 of 176 boys (32.4 %) and 28 of 143 girls (19.6 %), implying a relative odds of ASD of 1.65 in boys versus girls. There were modest sex differences on cognitive and adaptive skills and ASD symptom severity at age 3, but differences between boys and girls with ASD mirrored those in the non-ASD groups. The lower than expected male-to-female ratio, and the relatively high cognitive level among diagnosed children, suggest that we have identified an unanticipated number of higher-functioning girls with ASD.
本研究对从高风险队列中确定的自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的 3 岁儿童进行了性别差异研究，并设立了高风险和低风险对照组。研究参与者包括 319 名高风险兄弟姐妹和 129 名低风险对照组。85 名兄弟姐妹被诊断患有 ASD，其中 176 名男孩中有 57 名（32.4%），143 名女孩中有 28 名（19.6%），这表明男孩患 ASD 的相对风险是女孩的 1.65 倍。在 3 岁时，在认知和适应技能以及 ASD 症状严重程度方面存在性别差异，但 ASD 男孩和女孩之间的差异与非 ASD 组的差异相匹配。低于预期的男女性别比例，以及诊断出的儿童相对较高的认知水平，表明我们已经发现了数量意外的高功能女性 ASD 儿童。
