Burden of Co-occurring Conditions and Perinatal Predictors of Epilepsy in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of 1015 Children From Northwestern Mexico.

Authors

Jesús Javier Martínez-García, Jesús Elmer Pérez-Parra, Rossela de Jesús Vega-Castro, Esthela María Robledo-Conde, Angélica Martínez-Félix, Nidia León-Sicairos, Uriel A Angulo-Zamudio, Adrián Canizalez-Román

Published in

Journal of autism and developmental disorders. Aug 04, 2026. Epub Aug 04, 2026.

Abstract

Children with ASD frequently present with multiple co-occurring conditions affecting clinical management and quality of life. Systematic data on the burden of co-occurring conditions and perinatal risk factors remain scarce in Latin America. This study aimed to characterize the co-occurring condition profile, burden, and perinatal predictors in a large ASD cohort from Northwestern Mexico, examining their relationships with ASD severity and intellectual functioning.
This retrospective, cross-sectional study reviewed 1015 children with ASD (January 2022-January 2024) at the Sinaloa Autism Center, Culiacán, Mexico. ASD was diagnosed per DSM-5 by a board-certified pediatric neurologist. Severity was assessed using the CARS-2; intellectual functioning was assessed using the WISC-IV in 508 patients (≥ 6 years). Co-occurring condition burden was scored across seven domains. Three binary logistic regression models were constructed for epilepsy, ADHD, and sleep disorders.
Of 1,015 children, 83.3% were male (ratio 4.9:1). Median co-occurring condition burden was 3 per patient (IQR 2-4); 58.3% had ≥ 3 simultaneous co-occurring conditions. Language disorder was most prevalent (91.2%), followed by feeding/gastrointestinal disorders (69.8%), sleep disorders (63.2%), ADHD (33.8%), anxiety (12.9%), epilepsy (8.9%), and depression (3.0%). Perinatal asphyxia was the only independent predictor of epilepsy (adjusted OR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.14-3.57; p = 0.016). ADHD was inversely associated with ASD severity (OR = 0.71; p = 0.015) and positively with higher intellectual functioning (p = 0.016).
This largest ASD cohort from Northwestern Mexico reveals an extremely high multimorbidity burden. Perinatal asphyxia independently predicts epilepsy in ASD, representing a concrete, preventable target. Systematic multidisciplinary co-occurring condition screening at ASD diagnosis is strongly recommended across all levels of care in Mexico.

PMID:
42550384
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Aug 2026.

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