Chanaka N. Kahathuduwa, MD, MPhil, PhD
The results of a study conducted by researchers at Texas Tech University underscore the need for health screening reform and a more comprehensive approach to caring for people with autism.
The results of a systematic review and meta-analysis included approximately 30 papers reporting cardiometabolic risk factors in people with autism spectrum disorders and a matched control group, which were self-reported. People with autism have been shown to have a higher relative risk of developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases than those with autism. Autistic-free counterparts, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease.
“To our knowledge, this was the first comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the risk of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and macrovascular disease associated with autism,” said the researchers. is writing “Based on our results, people with autism have 57.3% DM, 64.1% type 1 diabetes, 146.7% type 2 diabetes, 69.4% dyslipidemia, and atherosclerotic heart disease. 45.9%”
Citing previous data outlining the possible increased cardiometabolic risk, the research team, led by Chanaka Kahatudwa, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Neurology, Texas Tech University, combined the current study with a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Designed as or baseline data from intervention studies reporting the prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors among children or adults with autism and matched participants without autism. With this in mind, the researcher, from inception to July 21, 2022, will publish PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Emboss, and his Ovid publications, without being restricted by publication date or language. A database search was performed.
As a result of the research, researchers identified 34 studies involving more than 8 million people for inclusion in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The overall study cohort included 276,173 of her participants with autism and 7,733,306 of her participants without autism. The mean age of the cohort of participants without autism was 31.2 (range, 3.8-72.8) years and the mean age of the cohort of participants with autism was 22.8 (range, 3.8-72.8) years. The pooled cohort was 47% female.
The primary outcome of this study was RR for diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerotic macrovascular disease in patients with autism. Secondary outcomes of interest included RR for type 1 and type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease. Of the 34 studies identified for inclusion, 22 reported statistics that allowed the calculation of relative risks (RR) for cardiometabolic risk factors, and the other 12 reported laboratory measures of interest.
Analysis showed that an autism diagnosis was associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes overall (RR, 1.57 [95% CI, 1.23-2.01]20 studies) and type 1 diabetes (RR, 1.64 [95% CI, 1.06-2.54]6 studies) and type 2 diabetes (RR, 2.47 [95% CI, 1.30-4.70]; 3 trials) are presented as individual results of interest. Further analysis showed that an autism diagnosis was associated with an increased risk of dyslipidemia (RR, 1.69. [95% CI, 1.20-2.40]7 studies) and cardiovascular disease (RR, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.42-1.50]3 studies).
However, the researchers noted that no statistically significant association of increased risk of hypertension was observed (RR, 1.22 [95% CI, 0.98-1.52]12 studies) and stroke (RR, 1.19 [95% CI, 0.63-2.24]4 studies) among people with autism. Meta-regression analyzes showed that children diagnosed with autism were more likely than adults to develop hypertension and diabetes, but researchers found heterogeneity between studies in several meta-analyses. It was noted that the very high
In a related editorial, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Center for Autism Research, University of Cambridge Psychiatry, said the rising rates of autism spectrum disorders and the life expectancy of these patients are already shortening.
“The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will force clinicians and researchers to fundamentally rethink the provision of healthcare currently being provided to people with autism,” Weir wrote. “There is a need to provide more lifelong mental and physical health care support, and new research on how to improve outcomes is critical.”
This study, “Autism Spectrum Disorders and Cardiometabolic Disorders,” JAMA Pediatrics.
