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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1467821

Unveiling the influences of prenatal and maternal factors on The Journey of an Autistic Child

Provisionally accepted
Ahmed Abdelkader Ahmed Abdelkader 1Faten A Alradini Faten A Alradini 2Ashwaq Ayidh Alosaimi Ashwaq Ayidh Alosaimi 3Abdullah Abbas Abdullah Abbas 4Zaki Awni Judeh Zaki Awni Judeh 1Tahnee Emy Abu Esaid Tahnee Emy Abu Esaid 1Alaa Abou Saleh Alaa Abou Saleh 1Samar Ahmed Amer Samar Ahmed Amer 5*
  • 1 New Vision University, Faculty of Medicine,, Georgea, Georgia
  • 2 Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 3 Ministry of Health (Saudi Arabia), Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Faculty of Medicine in Damietta, Al-Azhar University, New Damietta, Egypt
  • 5 Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex incurable neurodevelopmental disorder with a high and increasing global prevalence. Although the precise causes are unknown, both genetic and environmental factors, including maternal ones during pregnancy, significantly influence its development. Therefore, this study endeavors to explore the potential causes of autism, including maternal and paternal prenatal risk factors, as well as antenatal and natal maternal risk factors, and their associations with the severity of ASD in mothers of children with ASD, from February to May 2024.Methods: At an autism center in Saudi Arabia, this cross-sectional study enrolled 168 mothers of children diagnosed with ASD. The web-based survey employs a structured questionnaire to gather comprehensive prenatal, natal, and demographic data. The collected data was coded and analyzed using suitable tests.The majority of the surveyed 168 mothers with autistic children reported having autism spectrum disorder (43.8%), moderate autism (31.9%), mild autism (15.6%), and severe autism (8.8%). Most autistic children had a history of one or both maternal and/or paternal antenatal exposures: 79.2% had soft drink consumption, 35.1% smoked, 24.4% had chronic physical diseases, and 20.8% had psychological disease. Regarding maternal antenatal conditions, 37% had a history of recurrent infection, 29.2% had anemia, 15.5% had a history of threatened abortion or bleeding, as well as exposure to air pollution, and 22 (13.1%) had a history of gestational diabetes. Significant (p <0.05) predictors of severe autism were gestational diabetes aOR 4.553 (95% CI: [1.518, 14.25], birth oxygen desaturation 4.142 (95% CI: [1.437, 12.45]. Furthermore, the likelihood of classifying a child's ASD as severe increases by 7.1% with each year of age1.071 (95% CI: [1.002, 1.15].ASD is a prevalent health condition that has many interrelationships with prenatal, maternal (medical, environmental, and psychosocial factors), and natal conditions. Prospective studies are essential for understanding and addressing these ASD risk factors.

    Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Saudi Arabia, antenatal, Natal: prenatal, Pregnancy, The LIVES Daily Hassles

    Received: 20 Jul 2024; Accepted: 16 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Abdelkader, Alradini, Alosaimi, Abbas, Awni Judeh, Abu Esaid, Abou Saleh and Amer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Samar Ahmed Amer, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.