Children with autism spectrum disorders are at greater risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.¹ They were also more likely to have dyslipidemia.

Researchers from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas conducted a meta-analysis to examine the association between autism spectrum disorders and cardiometabolic diseases. For this, they reviewed 34 studies involving 276,173 children and/or adults with autism spectrum disorders and 7,733,306 without autism of mean age 31.2 years; 47% of the participants were female. The primary end points of the study were the relative risks (RRs) of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and atherosclerotic macrovascular disease. The RRs of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease were the secondary endpoints.

The overall risk of diabetes was increased among participants with autism with relative risk of 1.57; the risk for type 1 diabetes was increased 1.6-folds with RR of 1.64, while the risk of type 2 diabetes increased nearly 3-folds with RR of 2.47. Children and/or adults with autism were also at a heightened risk of dyslipidemia (RR 1.69) and heart disease (RR 1.46). But no significant risk was observed for stroke (RR 1.19) and hypertension (RR 1.22). On meta-regression analyses, however, the risk of hypertension and diabetes was found to be greater in children compared to adults.

While these findings show an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases in patients with autism spectrum disorders, the authors point out that they do not conclusively show causation. Nevertheless, physicians treating such patients should be aware of this association and screen them for the presence of risk factors in addition to closely watching them for signs of cardiometabolic disease and their complications.

Reference

1. Dhanasekara CS, et al. Association between autism spectrum disorders and cardiometabolic diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2023 Mar 1;177(3):248-257. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.5629.