One of the concerns that has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic is that autism may increase. However, a study of babies exposed to COVID-19 in the womb during the pandemic found that the risk of autism was not higher than that of children before the pandemic.
Professor Danny Dumitriu’s team at Columbia University’s Sargelos School of Medicine announced on the 24th in the American Medical Association’s Journal of JAMA Network Open the results of a study of more than 2,000 children born between January 2018 and September 2021.
“Pediatricians, researchers, and developmental scientists have also been concerned about the possibility of an increase in the incidence of autism due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Professor Dumitriu said. “But fortunately, this study found no signs of such an increase.”
During the pandemic, rumors that vaccines can cause autism and other conditions spread, and experts said that stress due to lockdowns can have a negative impact on pregnant women and fetuses, raising concerns that autism in children may increase. The study involved 2,499 children born at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Allen Hospital from January 2018 to September 2021.
Of the 516 children born before the pandemic and 1,533 born during the pandemic, 1,198 were not exposed to COVID-19 in the womb, 231 were exposed, and 104 had unknown exposure. The research team calculated the risk of autism by assessing the behavior of their children at 16 to 30 months of age using a neurodevelopmental screening questionnaire for parents. The scores were compared between children born before and during the pandemic, and between children exposed to COVID-19 in the womb and those not exposed. The analysis results showed that there was no significant difference in the positive rate of autism tests between children born before the pandemic and children born during the pandemic. In particular, the study showed that children exposed to COVID-19 in the womb had a lower positive rate of autism tests than children who were not exposed.
Professor Demetriou said, “This study is not a diagnosis of autism, but a survey on the risk of autism through a questionnaire for parents, so it is still too early to provide a definitive diagnosis figure,” but added, “This is comforting news for pregnant women who are worried about autism in their children due to the still prevalent COVID-19.” He continued, “This is a very reassuring study result because autism is known to be affected by the fetal environment,” adding, “However, since disabilities can develop later, we will continue to track the children who participated in the study to see if they develop diseases such as autism.”