Parental age and assisted reproductive technology in autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Tourette syndrome in a Japanese population

We investigated whether advanced parental age and assisted reproductive technology (ART) are risk factors in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Tourette syndrome (TS). Clinical charts of Japanese outpatients with ASD (n = 552), ADHD (n = 87), and TS (n = 123) were reviewed. Parental age of individuals with ASD, ADHD, or TS was compared with parental age in the general population (GP) of Tokyo after adjusting for year of birth. Paternal and maternal ages were significantly higher in persons with ASD and ADHD, but not those with TS. In final steps of stepwise logistic regression analysis, both maternal and paternal age were associated with ASD after controlling for the other parent's age, gender, and birth order. In cases where the presence or absence of ART could be ascertained (ASD n = 467; ADHD n = 64; TS n = 83), the rate of ART in cases of persons with ASD (4.5%) was 1.8 times the frequency expected in the GP, while ART was not present in cases of persons with ADHD and TS. These preliminary results remain tentative pending replication with larger, community-based samples.

► Advanced maternal and paternal ages are associated with ASD and ADHD but not TS.
► In ASD, these associations remained after controlling for confounding factors.
► Increased rate of ART is observed in ASD group.
► No significant difference was observed in rate of ART for only singleton ASD group.