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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 2020
To estimate the risk of developing autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) in children born to immigrants as compared to children of Dutch-born parents.
Retrospective, population-based cohort study of all live births (N= 106,953) between 1998 and 2007 in a circumscribed geographical region in the Netherlands. Cohort members were linked to the Psychiatric Case Register to identify diagnosed cases.
518 cases of ASD were identified, including 150 children with autism and 368 children with Asperger syndrome or PDD-NOS. Children born to migrants from developing countries were at significantly lower risk of ASD (rate ratio (RR)= 0.6, 95% (CI) 0.5-0.9) than children of Dutch-born parents. Within the ASD group, the risk for the subgroup with Asperger syndrome and PDD-NOS was reduced (RR= 0.4, 95% CI 0.3-0.6), whereas that for narrowly defined autism was nonsignificantly increased (RR= 1.4, 95% CI 0.9-2.4). Migrant groups did not differ in age at diagnosis.
The results echo Swedish findings indicating a reversal of risk gradient in children of parents from developing countries, specifically a decreased risk for high-functioning and increased risk for low-functioning autism.
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