Risk for autism and parent’s age and education level?

Abstract

We investigated the influence of advanced parental age in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders (OND), also comparing with data of Portuguese population. Participated 1973 children and adolescents: ASD (N=1202) and OND (N=771). Parental ages were divided into four categories. Comparison of parental age between clinical groups and with population data was performed using t-Student tests. Odds ratios and confidence intervals were estimated using logistic regression analysis, adjusted for risk factors. We found statistically significant differences between maternal ages of ASD and OND children, but not between paternal ages. The impact of advanced maternal age was higher in ASD than OND, although influencing both. There is an increase in mean maternal age at birth over the years, with values higher than population data. Older maternal age and parental education was independently associated with increased odds of ASD.