Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) had a greater risk of being affected with an ASD themselves, a Danish study affirmed.
Compared with children who came from families unaffected by ASDs, those with an older sibling with
Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) had a greater risk of being affected with an ASD themselves, a Danish study affirmed.
Compared with children who came from families unaffected by ASDs, those with an older sibling with an ASD were nearly seven times more likely to be diagnosed with an ASD (HR 6.9, 95% CI 6.1-7.8), according to Therese Gronberg, MSc, of Aarhus University in Denmark, and colleagues.
The risk was significantly greater for full siblings than for half-siblings, the researchers reported online in JAMA Pediatrics.
The magnitude of the risk of an ASD recurrence within a family, however, was lower than that seen in recent studies using clinic-based populations. The recurrence risk was 6.1% overall in the current study, compared with 14.2% and 18.7% in studies published in the last few years.
"If used as a benchmark for parental counseling, this estimate [6.1%] should be reassuring to parents having a child with an ASD if they are considering having another child," Grønberg and colleagues wrote.
Stefani Hines, MD, of Beaumont Children's Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., told MedPage Today in an email that "this study gives professionals who provide care to c