Cargando…

Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders

Recent observations suggest that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) co-occurs in people with a functional neurological disorder (FND), but little systematic data are available on the relationship between FND and autism. The study aimed to assess the self-reported autistic traits via a standardized quest...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: González-Herrero, Belén, Morgante, Francesca, Pagonabarraga, Javier, Stanton, Biba, Edwards, Mark J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9821674/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36615098
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12010299
_version_ 1784865755015151616
author González-Herrero, Belén
Morgante, Francesca
Pagonabarraga, Javier
Stanton, Biba
Edwards, Mark J.
author_facet González-Herrero, Belén
Morgante, Francesca
Pagonabarraga, Javier
Stanton, Biba
Edwards, Mark J.
author_sort González-Herrero, Belén
collection PubMed
description Recent observations suggest that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) co-occurs in people with a functional neurological disorder (FND), but little systematic data are available on the relationship between FND and autism. The study aimed to assess the self-reported autistic traits via a standardized questionnaire and the prevalence of previously diagnosed ASD among people with FND and their 1st-degree relatives. We performed a survey of members of the patient organization FNDHope, using a self-completed questionnaire for screening for autistic traits and ASD: the adult autism subthreshold spectrum (AdAS spectrum). There were 344 respondents diagnosed with FND with a mean age of 39.8 ± 11.6 years (female sex 90%). Eight per cent of respondents volunteered a previous diagnosis of ASD, and 24% reported a 1st-degree relative with a formal diagnosis of ASD, mostly their children. We found that 69% of respondents had scores in the AdAS spectrum indicating a clinically significant ASD and 21% indicating autistic traits. Further studies are needed to provide more evidence regarding the prevalence of ASD in people with FND and how this may influence the aetiology, treatment selection and prognosis.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9821674
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-98216742023-01-07 Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders González-Herrero, Belén Morgante, Francesca Pagonabarraga, Javier Stanton, Biba Edwards, Mark J. J Clin Med Article Recent observations suggest that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) co-occurs in people with a functional neurological disorder (FND), but little systematic data are available on the relationship between FND and autism. The study aimed to assess the self-reported autistic traits via a standardized questionnaire and the prevalence of previously diagnosed ASD among people with FND and their 1st-degree relatives. We performed a survey of members of the patient organization FNDHope, using a self-completed questionnaire for screening for autistic traits and ASD: the adult autism subthreshold spectrum (AdAS spectrum). There were 344 respondents diagnosed with FND with a mean age of 39.8 ± 11.6 years (female sex 90%). Eight per cent of respondents volunteered a previous diagnosis of ASD, and 24% reported a 1st-degree relative with a formal diagnosis of ASD, mostly their children. We found that 69% of respondents had scores in the AdAS spectrum indicating a clinically significant ASD and 21% indicating autistic traits. Further studies are needed to provide more evidence regarding the prevalence of ASD in people with FND and how this may influence the aetiology, treatment selection and prognosis. MDPI 2022-12-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9821674/ /pubmed/36615098 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12010299 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
González-Herrero, Belén
Morgante, Francesca
Pagonabarraga, Javier
Stanton, Biba
Edwards, Mark J.
Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders
title Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders
title_full Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders
title_fullStr Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders
title_full_unstemmed Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders
title_short Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Highly Prevalent in People with Functional Neurological Disorders
title_sort autism spectrum disorder may be highly prevalent in people with functional neurological disorders
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9821674/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36615098
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12010299
work_keys_str_mv AT gonzalezherrerobelen autismspectrumdisordermaybehighlyprevalentinpeoplewithfunctionalneurologicaldisorders
AT morgantefrancesca autismspectrumdisordermaybehighlyprevalentinpeoplewithfunctionalneurologicaldisorders
AT pagonabarragajavier autismspectrumdisordermaybehighlyprevalentinpeoplewithfunctionalneurologicaldisorders
AT stantonbiba autismspectrumdisordermaybehighlyprevalentinpeoplewithfunctionalneurologicaldisorders
AT edwardsmarkj autismspectrumdisordermaybehighlyprevalentinpeoplewithfunctionalneurologicaldisorders