Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30891686›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2019

Birth seasonality and risk of autism spectrum disorder.

Brian K Lee, Raz Gross, Richard W Francis, Håkan Karlsson, Diana E Schendel, Andre Sourander, Abraham Reichenberg, Erik T Parner, Mady Hornig, Amit Yaniv and 2 more

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Observational
  3. Prenatal exposure to extreme heat and autism in children.The Science of the total environment · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Season of birth and schizotypy in a sample of undergraduate students.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Viruses and autism: A Bi-mutual cause and effect.World journal of virology · 2023
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. 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

12 authors at 8 institutions in 6 countries.

Brian K LeeDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA. bklee@drexel.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3635-8034
Raz GrossDepartment of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Richard W FrancisTelethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA, Australia.
Håkan KarlssonDepartment of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Diana E SchendelDepartment of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
Andre SouranderUniversity Hospital of Turku and Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Abraham ReichenbergDepartment of Psychiatry and Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Erik T ParnerDepartment of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
Mady HornigDepartment of Epidemiology and Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Amit YanivSackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University and the Arrow Project for Junior Investigators, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Helen LeonardTelethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA, Australia.
Sven SandinDepartment of Psychiatry and Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Aarhus University · DKKarolinska Institutet · SETel Aviv University · ILThe Kids Research Institute Australia · AUColumbia University · USDrexel University · USIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · USUniversity of Turku · FI

Funding

Autism Speaks 6230Autism Speaks 6246Autism Speaks 6247Autism Speaks 6248Autism Speaks 6249Autism Speaks 6251Autism Speaks 6295.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Season of birth has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the evidence has been mixed and limited due to methodological challenges. We examine ASD birth trends for 5,464,628 births across 5 countries. ASD birth prevalence data were obtained from the International Collaboration for Autism Registry Epidemiology database, including children born in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Western Australia. Empirical mode decomposition and cosinor modeling were used to assess seasonality. We show seasonal variation in ASD births for the countries of Finland and Sweden. There was a modest increase in risk for children born in the fall and a modest decrease in risk for children born in the spring. Solar radiation levels around conception and the postnatal period were inversely correlated with seasonal trends in ASD risk. In the first multinational study of birth seasonality of ASD, there was evidence supporting the presence of seasonal trends in Finland and Sweden. The observations that risk was highest for fall births (i.e., conceived in the winter) and lowest for spring births (i.e., conceived in the summer), and sunlight levels during critical neurodevelopmental periods explained much of the seasonal trends, are consistent with the hypothesis that a seasonally fluctuating risk factor may influence risk of ASD.

Indexed as

SeasonsAutism Spectrum DisorderChildDenmarkFemaleFertilizationFinlandHumansInfant, NewbornMaleNorwayParturitionPregnancyPrevalenceSwedenWestern AustraliaAutismEmpirical mode decompositionEpidemiologySeasonality

Identifiers

PMID30891686
PMCPMC6602987
OpenAlexW2924383394

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.