Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29026508›Full record

SynthesisMolecular autism2017

The association between maternal use of folic acid supplements during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorders in children: a meta-analysis.

Meiyun Wang, Kaiqin Li, Dongmei Zhao, Ling Li

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Molecular autism, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 12 pooled it
6.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Association of the Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation with the Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2021
    Pooled it
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  10. Maternal Dietary Factors and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review of Existing Evidence.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2020
    Pooled it
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  13. Trial
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Folate in autism neurodevelopment.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Meiyun WangDepartment of Pediatric Health Care, Ji'nan Children's Hospital of Shandong University, No. 23976, Jingshi Road, Ji'nan, Shandong Province 250022 China.
Kaiqin LiDepartment of Gynecology, The Central Hospital of Linyi City, Linyi, Shandong 276000 China.
Dongmei ZhaoDepartment of Pediatric Health Care, Ji'nan Children's Hospital of Shandong University, No. 23976, Jingshi Road, Ji'nan, Shandong Province 250022 China.
Ling LiDepartment of Pediatric Health Care, Ji'nan Children's Hospital of Shandong University, No. 23976, Jingshi Road, Ji'nan, Shandong Province 250022 China.
Shandong University · CNLinyi People's Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Previous reviews have been conducted to evaluate the association between maternal use of folic acid supplements during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children, with no definitive conclusion. We therefore conducted a more comprehensive meta-analysis to reassess the relationship between folic acid and the risk of ASD. The electronic databases PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Wanfang Data were carefully searched to find eligible studies as recent as March 2017. A random effects model was used to combine the relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were conducted. A total of 12 articles with 16 studies comprising 4514 ASD cases were included in this report. It was found that supplementation with folic acid during pregnancy could reduce the risk of ASD [RR = 0.771, 95% CI = 0.641-0.928,

Indexed as

Prenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsAutism Spectrum DisorderChildDietary SupplementsFemaleFolic AcidHumansMaternal ExposureOdds RatioPregnancyRiskFolic AcidAutism spectrum disordersChildrenFolic acid supplementsMaternalMeta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID29026508
PMCPMC5625821
OpenAlexW2761279675

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.