Abstract
As early screening and diagnosis is very important in treatment and intervention of Autism Spectrum Disorder, we investigated the relationship between primitive reflexes and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Of 88 very low birth weight infants (<1500g) born from April 2010 to March 2012, subjects comprised 38 examined for 18 primitive reflexes between age 38 and 45 wks corrected age and followed-up over 6 yrs. ASD was diagnosed using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Second Edition (ADOS-2). We compared the number of abnormal primitive reflexes between two groups (11 children with and 19 without ASD) after excluding eight children with cerebral palsy in this case-control study. Twenty cases showed one to four hypoactive reflex(es) and two showed one hyperactive reflex together with hypoactive reflex(es). Ten out of 11 cases with ASD had one to four abnormal reflex(es). The number of abnormal hypoactive primitive reflexes was significantly higher in the ASD group (p=0.002). The result suggests primitive reflexes can be one of the key elements in very early infancy to identify ASD in low birth weight infants. Abnormal hypoactive primitive reflex of low birth weight infants with ASD may inform future research of the pathogenesis of ASD.
Highlights
As early screening and diagnosis is very important in treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder, we investigated the relationship between primitive reflexes and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
We investigated correlations between the number of applicable items for ASD diagnosis in DSM-5 or the scores of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Second Edition (ADOS-2) and the number of abnormal primitive reflexes
There was a significant difference in the number of abnormal primitive reflexes between the two groups after excluding eight cases with cerebral palsy(p = 0.001) (Fig. 1)
Summary
As early screening and diagnosis is very important in treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder, we investigated the relationship between primitive reflexes and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction and restricted repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. Recent studies reported prevalence rates of 1.46% in Mainland U.S.A. As there is no cure at present, treatment for ASD focuses on behavioral and educational interventions targeting the core symptoms [5]. Identification and intervention as early as possible are very important to decrease core symptoms and subsequent behavioral problems [6, 7]. Prospective longitudinal studies of infants at risk for ASD have generally not observed behavioral signs of ASD until the second year of life [8]
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