1 University of Kansas Medical Center, USA.
2 UCSF School of Medicine, USA.
Autism. 2017 Aug;21(6):772-784. doi: 10.1177/1362361316681481. Epub 2017 Apr 21.
Research studies using existing samples of individuals with autism spectrum disorders have identified differences in symptoms between males and females. Differences are typically reported in school age and adolescence, with similarities in symptom presentation at earlier ages. However, existing studies on sex differences are significantly limited, making it challenging to discern if, how, and at what point in development females with autism spectrum disorder actually exhibit a different behavioral presentation than males. The purpose of this study was to gather impressions from a large group of clinicians to isolate specific areas for future study of sex differences. Clinicians were surveyed about their opinions and perceptions of symptom severity in females, as compared to males, at different points during development. They were also asked to provide open-ended responses about female symptom presentation. Consistent with previous literature, clinicians noted more sex-related differences in restricted and repetitive behaviors and fewer differences for social communication features. Differences were most commonly observed in school age and adolescence, suggesting this time period as a critical and particularly vulnerable window for females with autism spectrum disorder. The results are discussed in the context of other male/female differences across development so that more targeted investigations of autism spectrum disorder sex differences across development.
使用现有的自闭症谱系障碍个体样本进行的研究已经确定了男性和女性之间症状的差异。差异通常在学龄期和青春期报告，在早期年龄表现出相似的症状。然而，现有的关于性别的差异的研究受到了显著的限制，使得难以辨别女性自闭症谱系障碍实际上是否表现出与男性不同的行为表现，以及如何以及在何时表现出这种差异。本研究的目的是从一大群临床医生那里收集意见，以确定未来研究性别的差异的具体领域。临床医生被调查了他们对女性在不同发育阶段的症状严重程度的看法和认知，与男性相比。他们还被要求对女性症状表现提供开放式的回答。与之前的文献一致，临床医生注意到在受限和重复行为方面存在更多与性别相关的差异，而在社会交流特征方面的差异较少。差异最常见于学龄期和青春期，这表明这一时期是自闭症谱系障碍女性的一个关键和特别脆弱的时期。研究结果在整个发育过程中其他男性/女性差异的背景下进行了讨论，以便对自闭症谱系障碍发育过程中的性别差异进行更有针对性的研究。
