In honor of Autism Awareness Month, I've been doing a lot of reading on autism in preemies. To a casual observer in preemie circles on the net, it seems like far too many of our babies suffer from problems that fall somewhere on the autism spectrum.
Preemies commonly suffer from complications like sensory integration disorder, speech problems and other developmental and learning disorders. They also have a rather high incidence of brain imaging abnormalities and a host of other problems. Some refer to this complex array of symptoms as the preemie syndrome. The question is, are these problems actually an autism spectrum disorder, or a direct or indirect complication of prematurity, and does it matter?
A recent study published in the April 2008 issue of Pediatrics looked at preemies who weighed 1500g or less at birth, and found that at an average adjusted age of 22 months, more than a quarter of them had autistic traits. Researchers followed 91 preemies who had an MRI around their due date, and then were examined as toddlers using the Modified Checklistfor Autism in Toddlers, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale,and the Child Behavior Checklist.
Results showed that 26% of the ex-preemies had a positive score on the autism screening tool. The children who had positive scores on the Modified Checklistfor Autism in Toddlers were also highly likely to have internalizing behavioral problems on the Child Behavior Checklist and socialization and communication problems on the Vineland Scales.
Not surprisingly, younger, sicker and smaller preemies, as well as males were more likely to have an abnormal autism screening score. Additionally, babies with MRI abnormalities, and those affected by chorioamonitis and intrapartum hemorrhage were also effected more frequently. I've heard through the grapevine that a study looking at autistic traits in older preemies will be hitting the presses sometime in the very near future. Perhaps that study will give us more insight into this puzzling picture.
