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A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are often accompanied by atypical visual, auditory, and tactile sensory behavior. Evidence also suggests alterations of the olfactory system, but the pattern of findings appears mixed. To quantify this pattern systematically, we conducted a meta-analysis. Studies were...

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Autores principales: Larsson, Maria, Tirado, Carlos, Wiens, Stefan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5425471/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28553238
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00679
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author Larsson, Maria
Tirado, Carlos
Wiens, Stefan
author_facet Larsson, Maria
Tirado, Carlos
Wiens, Stefan
author_sort Larsson, Maria
collection PubMed
description Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are often accompanied by atypical visual, auditory, and tactile sensory behavior. Evidence also suggests alterations of the olfactory system, but the pattern of findings appears mixed. To quantify this pattern systematically, we conducted a meta-analysis. Studies were included if they examined olfactory function (i.e., odor threshold, or odor identification) in ASD compared with healthy age-matched control groups. We also coded for the potential moderators gender, age, and IQ. Articles were identified through computerized literature search using Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases. A total of 11 articles compared odor threshold and/or odor identification between cases and controls (for threshold, n = 143 ASD and 148 controls; and for identification, n = 132 ASD and 139 controls). Effects sizes showed a substantial heterogeneity. As a result, the 95% prediction intervals were wide and ranged between a large negative and a large positive effect size for odor threshold, [-1.86, 2.05], and for odor identification, [-1.51, 2.52]. Exploratory analyses suggested that age and IQ may be potential moderators. To conclude, the large heterogeneity is consistent with the notion of both hyposensitivity and hypersensitivity in individuals with ASD. However, future research needs to predict and test the specific direction of the effect to provide convincing evidence for atypical olfactory functions in ASD.
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spelling pubmed-54254712017-05-26 A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders Larsson, Maria Tirado, Carlos Wiens, Stefan Front Psychol Psychology Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are often accompanied by atypical visual, auditory, and tactile sensory behavior. Evidence also suggests alterations of the olfactory system, but the pattern of findings appears mixed. To quantify this pattern systematically, we conducted a meta-analysis. Studies were included if they examined olfactory function (i.e., odor threshold, or odor identification) in ASD compared with healthy age-matched control groups. We also coded for the potential moderators gender, age, and IQ. Articles were identified through computerized literature search using Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases. A total of 11 articles compared odor threshold and/or odor identification between cases and controls (for threshold, n = 143 ASD and 148 controls; and for identification, n = 132 ASD and 139 controls). Effects sizes showed a substantial heterogeneity. As a result, the 95% prediction intervals were wide and ranged between a large negative and a large positive effect size for odor threshold, [-1.86, 2.05], and for odor identification, [-1.51, 2.52]. Exploratory analyses suggested that age and IQ may be potential moderators. To conclude, the large heterogeneity is consistent with the notion of both hyposensitivity and hypersensitivity in individuals with ASD. However, future research needs to predict and test the specific direction of the effect to provide convincing evidence for atypical olfactory functions in ASD. Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-05-11 /pmc/articles/PMC5425471/ /pubmed/28553238 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00679 Text en Copyright © 2017 Larsson, Tirado and Wiens. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 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.
spellingShingle Psychology
Larsson, Maria
Tirado, Carlos
Wiens, Stefan
A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders
title A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders
title_full A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders
title_fullStr A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders
title_full_unstemmed A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders
title_short A Meta-Analysis of Odor Thresholds and Odor Identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders
title_sort meta-analysis of odor thresholds and odor identification in autism spectrum disorders
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5425471/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28553238
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00679
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