Journal Article

Psychiatric and Medical Profiles of Autistic Adults in the SPARK Cohort

Youngkin, Sarah, Zick Allyson, Neely, Jason, Gunter, Chris, Hunter, Samantha, Walston, Corrie H, Huang-Storms, Lark Y, Jensen, William, Verdi, Mary, Barnard, Rebecca A, Judge Jessyca, Fischer, Gregory, Prock, Lisa M, Heerwagen, Kathryn, Cubells, Joseph F, Heyman, Michelle, Muzny Donna, Shulman, Lisa, Beaudet, Arthur, Ganesan Swami, Sharmista, Chintalapalli, Grosvenor, Luke P, Mohiuddin, Sarah, Russo-Ponsaran, Nicole, Sutcliffe, James S, Shah Swapnil, Manoharan, Julie, Taylor, Thomas, Beckwith Malia, Berry-Kravis, Elizabeth, Acampado, John, Brewster, Stephanie J, Daniels, Amy M, Fisk, Ian, Rajbhandari Kshitij, Stock, Colleen M, Baer, Melissa, Shocklee, Amanda D, Warren, Zachary, Dent, Kate, Swanson, Amy, Butler, Martin E, Fish, Angela, Hanna, Nathan, Casten Lucas, Kim So Hyun, Jacob Suma, Sarver, Dustin E, Baalman Kelly, Chung, Wendy, Balasubramanian Adithya, Geschwind, Daniel H, Horner, Susannah, McKenzie, Alexander P, Annett, Robert D, Goudreau Lindsey, Kitaygorodsky Alex, Qi Hongjian, Columbi Costanza, Mallardi Malcolm D, Lowe, Kathryn, Friedman, Sandra L, Istephanous Dalia, Takahashi, Nicole, Ruzzo, Elizabet

2020

Overview

This study examined lifetime medical and psychiatric morbidity reported by caregivers of 2917 autistic adults participating in the US research cohort SPARK. Participants were 78.4% male, 47.3% had intellectual disability, and 32.1% had persistent language impairments. Childhood language disorders (59.7%), speech/articulation problems (32.8%), sleep (39.4%) and eating problems (29.4%), motor delays (22.8%) and history of seizure (15.5%) were the most frequently reported clinical features. Over two thirds (67.2%) had been diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder (anxiety disorders: 41.1%; ADHD: 38.7%). Compared to verbally fluent participants, those with language impairments had lower frequencies of almost all psychiatric disorders. Female sex and older age were associated with higher medical and psychiatric morbidity.

• Publisher: Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adults / Anxiety / Anxiety disorders / Articulation / Articulation Impairments / Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder / Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorders / Autistic adults / Caregivers / Childhood / Children / College Science / Comorbidity / Consortia / Control Groups / Convulsions & seizures / Disorders / Followup Studies / Intellectual disabilities / Intellectual Disability / Language / Language disorders / Language Impairments / Mental disorders / Morbidity / Obesity / Outcomes of Treatment / Psychiatric morbidity / Psychiatry / Records (Forms) / Recruitment / Seizures / Sleep / Sleep disorders / Social Integration / Speech