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Incomplete Gestation has an Impact on Cognitive Abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Extreme prematurity is known as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the association between prematurity and ASD, for children born moderately and late preterm (MLPT) and those born early term (ET), is less established. This retrospective study aimed to characterize the phenotypic characteristics (i.e. behavioral profile and cognitive abilities) of 254 children with ASD, between 3 and 15 years of age, born MLPT (19 children), ET (60 children) and full term (175 children). MLPT and ET births do not modify ASD symptomatology, but modify cognitive development. The results highlight that incomplete gestation, i.e., MLPT or ET, has a negative impact on both verbal and nonverbal cognitive abilities, in children with neurodevelopmental vulnerability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France

    Maëva Brayette & Elie Saliba

  2. Centre Universitaire de Pédopsychiatrie, CHRU de Tours, 2 boulevard Tonnellé, 37044, Tours Cedex 9, France

    Joëlle Malvy, Laura Ponson, Gabriele Tripi & Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault

  3. UMR 1253, iBrain, Université de Tours, Inserm, Tours, France

    Elie Saliba, Joëlle Malvy, Sylvie Roux & Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault

  4. EA 4057, Institut de Psychologie, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

    Romuald Blanc

  5. Dipartemento PRoSAMI, Paolo Giaccone Hospital, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Gabriele Tripi

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  1. Maëva Brayette
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Contributions

MB conducted the initial analyses, contributed to interpretation of data and draft the initial manuscript; ES interpreted data and help to revised the manuscript critically; JM, RB, LP and GT participated to acquisition of data and contributed to interpretation of data; SR coordinated and supervised data analyses and help to draft the manuscript; FBB conceptualized, designed and coordinated the study, interpreted data, draft and revised the manuscript critically. All authors read and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

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Correspondence to Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Tours University Hospital (No. 2016-009).

Informed Consent

According to French research regulation (Article L1122-1-1 of the French Public Health Code), written informed consent is not required for clinical database obtained via non interventional research and declared to the CNIL, the French data protection authority.

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Brayette, M., Saliba, E., Malvy, J. et al. Incomplete Gestation has an Impact on Cognitive Abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 4339–4345 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04105-x

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