Bener Abdulbari, Khattab Azhar O, Bhugra Dinesh, Hoffmann Georg F
Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey; Department of Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, England, UK.
Department of Pediatrics, Rumailah and Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation; Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar.
Ann Afr Med. 2017 Oct-Dec;16(4):186-191. doi: 10.4103/aam.aam_17_17.
The aim of this study was to investigate iron deficiency anemia and Vitamin D deficiency among autism children and to assess the importance of risk factors (determinants).
This was a case-control study conducted among children suffering from autism at the Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. A total of 308 cases and equal number of controls were enrolled. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic was the instrument used for diagnosis of Autism.
The mean age (±standard deviation, in years) for autistic versus control children was 5.39 ± 1.66 versus 5.62 ± 1.81, respectively. The mean value of serum iron levels in autistic children was severely reduced and significantly lower than in control children (74.13 ± 21.61 μg/dL with a median 74 in autistic children 87.59 ± 23.36 μg/dL in controls) (P = 0.003). Similarly, the study revealed that Vitamin D deficiency was considerably more common among autistic children (18.79 ± 8.35 ng/mL) as compared to healthy children (22.18 ± 9.00 ng/mL) (P = 0.004). Finally, mean values of hemoglobin, ferritin, magnesium; potassium, calcium; phosphorous; glucose, alkaline phosphate, hematocrit, white blood cell, and mean corpuscular volume were all statistically significantly higher in healthy control children as compared to autistic children (P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that serum iron deficiency, serum calcium levels, serum Vitamin D levels; ferritin, reduced physical activity; child order, body mass index percentiles, and parental consanguinity can all be considered strong predictors and major factors associated with autism spectrum disorders.
This study suggests that deficiency of iron and Vitamin D as well as anemia were more common in autistic compared to control children.
本研究旨在调查自闭症儿童中的缺铁性贫血和维生素D缺乏情况，并评估风险因素（决定因素）的重要性。
这是一项在卡塔尔哈马德医疗公司对自闭症儿童进行的病例对照研究。共纳入308例病例和数量相等的对照。自闭症诊断观察量表通用版是用于诊断自闭症的工具。
自闭症儿童与对照儿童的平均年龄（±标准差，单位：岁）分别为5.39±1.66和5.62±1.81。自闭症儿童血清铁水平的平均值严重降低，且显著低于对照儿童（自闭症儿童为74.13±21.61μg/dL，中位数为74；对照儿童为87.59±23.36μg/dL）（P = 0.003）。同样，研究显示自闭症儿童中维生素D缺乏比健康儿童更为普遍（分别为18.79±8.35 ng/mL和22.18±9.00 ng/mL）（P = 0.004）。最后，与自闭症儿童相比，健康对照儿童的血红蛋白、铁蛋白、镁、钾、钙、磷、葡萄糖、碱性磷酸酶、血细胞比容、白细胞和平均红细胞体积的平均值均具有统计学显著差异（P < 0.001）。多因素逻辑回归分析显示，血清铁缺乏、血清钙水平、血清维生素D水平、铁蛋白、身体活动减少、孩子排行、体重指数百分位数和父母近亲结婚均被认为是与自闭症谱系障碍相关的强预测因素和主要因素。
本研究表明，与对照儿童相比，自闭症儿童中铁和维生素D缺乏以及贫血更为常见。
