de Giambattista Concetta, Ventura Patrizia, Trerotoli Paolo, Margari Francesco, Margari Lucia
Child Neuropsychiatric Unit, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 9;12:539835. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.539835. eCollection 2021.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has historically been studied, known, and diagnosed in males. Females tend to remain unidentified, especially those with average intelligence abilities. This sex/gender difference might be partially explained by biological risk factors, but it is probably also bound to methodological issues. The present study aims to examine phenotypic characteristics (cognitive, emotive, socio-communicative, and academic) of a group of 54 females with ASD matched to a group of 55 males with ASD (3-18 years), all without cognitive impairment. Results suggest that there are subtle, yet potentially meaningful, quantitative, and qualitative phenotypic differences between females and males that common screening tests are not always sensitive enough to recognize. Further studies to improve practice and course for the assessment of females, reducing sex/gender-based inequities in ASD care, are required.
孤独症谱系障碍（ASD）在历史上一直是针对男性进行研究、认知和诊断的。女性往往未被识别出来，尤其是那些具有平均智力水平的女性。这种性别差异可能部分由生物学风险因素解释，但也可能与方法学问题有关。本研究旨在检查一组54名患有ASD的女性与一组55名患有ASD的男性（3至18岁）的表型特征（认知、情感、社会沟通和学业方面），所有参与者均无认知障碍。结果表明，女性和男性之间存在细微但可能有意义的定量和定性表型差异，而常见的筛查测试并不总是足够敏感以识别这些差异。需要进一步开展研究以改进对女性的评估实践和流程，减少ASD护理中基于性别的不平等现象。
