Inter-Pregnancy Interval and its Association with Autistic Children Muhsen Hajir Salem1,*, Al-Joborae Sijal Fadhil Farhood1 1College of Medicine, Babylon University, Iraq, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research *Corresponding Author: Hajir Salem Muhsen, College of Medicine, Babylon University, Iraq, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Email: qaisajam1981@gmail.com
Online published on 23 December, 2019. Abstract Background Autism is a life-long developmental disorder that causes considerable amount of health loss during the life of affected people. Despite the role of environmental factors in its development, but a single factor is not sufficient to cause it, and a combination of several factors is more likely to be responsible. Aim of the Study To determine the risk of autism with short, adequate and long inter-pregnancy intervals. Methodology This study is a cross sectional study conducted in centers for autistic children in three governorates (Karbala, Babil, and Wasit) in addition to the psychiatry unit in Al-Zahraa Teaching Hospital in Wasit. The data collection was performed from January 2019 to April 2019. Results Mean age of autistic children was (6.12 ± 2.25) ranging from (3–15) years old, most of them being males (73.7%) who were born term (70.0%). Almost two-thirds of them were born via cesarean section. Three-quarters of children were either second birth order or third (33.2% and 43.7%) respectively. Onethird of mother did not have regular antenatal care, and 17.0% of them had bleeding in pregnancy, mostly in first trimester. There was significant association between inter-pregnancy interval and the gestational age at birth (p-value=0.034). Also, there was significant association between inter-pregnancy interval and both of maternal age at child birth and antenatal care, p-value=0.008 and 0.001, respectively. Conclusion Certain maternal and child factors are associated with inter-pregnancy interval, including gestational age, maternal age, and antenatal care. Some of these are known risk factors for autism. Almost half of the patients had inter-pregnancy interval of less than 2 years. Top Keywords Autism, inter-pregnancy interval, neurobehavioral disorder. Top |