Definition
Since 2000, both prevalence of identified ASD and the proportion of pregnant women receiving an opioid prescription during pregnancy have increased dramatically. Current evidence suggests a possible association between maternal opioid prescription and ASD identification; yet, few studies of outcomes for children exposed to opiates in utero have had the statistical power or longitudinal duration to assess autism as an outcome. As opioid use continues to be a research priority in the USA, better data will be available to understand the relationship between prescription and/or illicit opioid use and risk of autism.
Historical Background
The prevalence of ASD identified in population-based samples in the USA has increased consistently in the previous two decades (Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Principal Investigators 2007; Baio et al. 2018; Nevison et al. 2018). While some of this increase is attributable to changing diagnostic patterns (Coo et al. 2007...
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Rubenstein, E. (2021). Maternal Opioid Prescription in Autism Spectrum Disorder. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91280-6_102340
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