Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
University of Cambridge, UK.
Autism. 2022 Feb;26(2):373-388. doi: 10.1177/13623613211022091. Epub 2021 Jun 29.
Sex-steroids, such as testosterone, are thought to be one of the biological factors implicated in autism. This relies on the sex bias in the diagnosis of autism (boys are approximately four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls) and findings of associations with fetal testosterone levels in traits and abilities related to autism. The current study aimed to examine the association between medical conditions and physical symptoms, which tend to manifest in adulthood, and autism in females. Moreover, we examined their association with autistic traits throughout the spectrum. We focused on autistic women because there is little research focusing on the healthcare needs of autistic women, but those that exist suggest heightened vulnerability, and lower access to medical care. We find that conditions related to steroid hormones function are more frequent in autistic women and that they correlate with autistic traits. Specifically, we found that body mass index, reproductive system diagnoses, prediabetes symptoms, irregular puberty onset, and menstrual irregularities were significantly more frequent in autistic women and were significantly correlated with autistic traits in neurotypical women. The findings have important implications for raising awareness in autistic women of the possibility of medical conditions which might need medical attention. In addition, healthcare providers should consider these associations when performing healthcare maintenance checks and/or screening for autism.
性激素，如睾酮，被认为是自闭症发病的生物学因素之一。这是基于自闭症诊断中的性别偏见（男孩被诊断的可能性大约是女孩的四倍）以及与自闭症相关的胎儿睾酮水平与特征和能力的关联的发现。本研究旨在研究与成年后表现出来的身体症状相关的医学状况与女性自闭症之间的关联。此外，我们还研究了它们与自闭症谱系中自闭症特征的关联。我们关注自闭症女性，因为几乎没有研究关注自闭症女性的医疗保健需求，但现有的研究表明她们更容易受到伤害，并且获得医疗保健的机会较少。我们发现，与类固醇激素功能相关的疾病在自闭症女性中更为常见，并且与自闭症特征相关。具体来说，我们发现身体质量指数、生殖系统诊断、前驱糖尿病症状、不规则青春期开始和月经不规律在自闭症女性中更为常见，并且与神经典型女性的自闭症特征显著相关。这些发现对于提高自闭症女性对可能需要医疗关注的身体状况的认识具有重要意义。此外，医疗保健提供者在进行医疗保健维护检查和/或自闭症筛查时，应考虑这些关联。
