ArticleHealth promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice2017
Environmental factors associated with autism spectrum disorder: a scoping review for the years 2003-2013.
Article in Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Migration modulates the prevalence of ASD and ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Maternal Thyroid Hormone Imbalance and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Article
- Mapping Autism in Armenia Among Children and Adolescents Aged 0-18 Years: Population-Based Insights into Prevalence and Its Geographical Differences.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Time Trends in Treated Incidence, Socio-demographic Risk Factors, and Co-occurring Psychiatric Disorders in Diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder With or Without Intellectual Disability: A Finnish Nationwide Register Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Delivered Right to Your Own Home: Community Perspectives on Home-Based Kits for Studying Genetic and Environmental Factors Related to Later Autism Diagnosis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Genetic Counseling Utilization and Experience Among Caregivers of Children With ASD in the United States.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Autism and immigration, is there a link? Results from a Manitoba Study.Paediatrics & child health · 2025Article
- Familial adenomatous polyposis family with clustering of psychiatric disorders.Japanese journal of clinical oncology · 2025Article
- Expanding Research on Contextual Factors in Autism Research: What Took Us So Long?Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025Article
- Implementation of M-Chat for Screening of Early Signs of Autism in the Brazilian Health Care System: A Feasibility Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- The HPCDP Journal: celebrating a decade of impact.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2025Article
- Bridging gaps in healthcare: child health services and specialist care collaboration for young children with autism and coexisting conditions.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Environmental factors associated with autism spectrum disorder in Southern Europe: a systematic review.International journal of developmental disabilities · 2025Review
- Indian ASD probands with 25(OH)D and vitamin D binding protein deficiency exhibited higher severity.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Purinergic Signaling in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Bridging the Gap between Cell-Based Strategies and Neuro-Immune Modulation.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- The Association between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Precocious Puberty: Considering Effect Modification by Sex and Neuropsychiatric Comorbidities.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- Lead contamination in human milk affects infants' language trajectory: results from a prospective cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Gestational Age in Autistic Children and Adolescents: Prevalence and Effects on Autism Phenotype.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
- Assessment of vulnerability dimensions considering Family History and environmental interplay in Autism Spectrum Disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been rapidly rising in the past decade. The etiology of this disorder, however, is largely unknown, although the environmental relative to the genetic contribution is substantial. We conducted a scoping review to comprehensively assess the current state of knowledge of the environmental factors present from preconception to early life associated with ASD, and to identify research gaps.
methodsWe searched electronic databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO and ERIC for articles on potential risk factors or protective factors from the physical and social environments associated with ASD and its subclassifications published between 1 January, 2003, and 12 July, 2013. We categorized articles into broad themes: chemical, physiological, nutritional and social factors, based on environmental exposure.
resultsWe identified over 50 000 publications, but after ineligible studies were screened out, 315 articles remained. Most of these studies examined physiological factors, followed closely by chemical factors, and to a much lesser extent, nutritional and social factors, associated with ASD. Despite a vast literature and many heterogeneous studies, several risk factors emerged consistently: chemical factors such as traffic-related air pollutants; physiological factors including advanced parental age, preterm birth, low birth weight, hyperbilirubinemia and clustering of pregnancy complications; and maternal immigrant status. Despite extensive research on vaccines, findings overwhelmingly demonstrate no support for an association with ASD.
conclusionThe lack of consistency, temporality and specificity of associations between environmental factors and ASD remains the largest barrier to establishing causal relationships. More robust research is required to resolve inconsistencies in the literature. Future research should explore underlying mechanisms of associations between the risk factors that we identified and ASD.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.