Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30555264›Full record

ArticleClinical epidemiology2018

Pregnancy outcomes in women with autism: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Heléne Ek Sundelin, Olof Stephansson, Christina M Hultman, Jonas F Ludvigsson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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

27 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Article
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  11. Autistic Women's Experience of Motherhood: A Qualitative Analysis of Reddit.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025
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  15. Article
  16. Autistic People's Perinatal Experiences I: A Survey of Pregnancy Experiences.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. A Qualitative Exploration into the Sensory Experiences of Autistic Mothers.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023
    Article
  20. Article
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 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Heléne Ek SundelinDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden, helene.sundelin@liu.se.
Olof StephanssonClinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska University Hospital and Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Christina M HultmanDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Jonas F LudvigssonDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SEKarolinska University Hospital · SELinköping University · SEUniversity of Nottingham · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe consequences of autism in pregnancy outcomes have not been explored before, although it is of crucial importance because of the frequent comorbidities and medication in this group of women.

objectivesTo estimate the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women diagnosed with autism.

designNationwide population-based cohort study.

settingSweden.

participantsSingleton births identified in the Swedish Medical Birth Registry, 2006-2014. A total of 2,198 births to women diagnosed with autism registered in the Swedish National Patient Registry were compared to 877,742 singleton births to women without such a diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Preterm delivery. Secondary measures were cesarean delivery (emergency and elective), Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes, small for gestational age, large for gestational age, stillbirth, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. ORs were calculated through logistic regression, adjusted for maternal age at delivery, maternal country of birth, smoking, maternal body mass index, parity, calendar year of birth, and psychotropic and antiepileptic medication during pregnancy.

resultsWomen with autism were at increased risk of preterm birth (OR=1.30; 95% CI=1.10-1.54), especially medically indicated preterm birth (OR=1.41; 95% CI=1.08-1.82), but not with spontaneous preterm birth. Maternal autism was also associated with an increased risk of elective cesarean delivery (OR=1.44; 95% CI=1.25-1.66) and preeclampsia (OR=1.34; 95% CI=1.08-1.66), but not with emergency cesarean delivery, low Apgar score (<7), large for gestational age, gestational diabetes, and stillbirth. In women with medication during pregnancy, there was no increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome except for induction of delivery (OR=1.33; 95% CI=1.14-1.55). CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Maternal autism is associated with preterm birth, likely due to an increased frequency of medically indicated preterm births, but also with other adverse pregnancy outcomes, suggesting a need for extra surveillance during prenatal care.

Indexed as

antiepileptic drugsautismpreeclampsiapregnancypreterm birth

Identifiers

PMID30555264
PMCPMC6280895
OpenAlexW2766642307

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.