Medical disorders among inpatients with autism in Denmark
according to ICD-8: a nationwide register-based study.
Lauritsen MB, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Ewald H.
Department of Psychiatric Demography, Institute for Basic Psychiatric Research,
Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. mbl@dadlnet.dk
Possible associations between autism and specific medical disorders have been
suggested, and this could be of relevance in the clinical examination and
treatment of patients and may help to identify factors involved in the etiology
or pathophysiology of autism. Two population-based Danish registers were used to
investigate the occurrence of medical disorders in patients with autism
according to ICD-8 and in a matched control sample. A total of 29 of the 244
patients (11.9%) diagnosed with autism had one or more medical disorders. In
contrast to previous studies, we did not find an increased occurrence of almost
any medical disorders. A highly significant increased frequency of congenital
malformations was found, which may indicate abnormalities in embryogenesis in
the etiology of autism.
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