Diseases of the circulatory system among adult people diagnosed with infantile autism as children: A longitudinal case control study

• Knowledge of health conditions in adults with autism spectrum disorders is scarce.
• In this case control study we describe, for the first time, systematically diseases relating to the circulatory system in adults with infantile autism, based on a nationwide hospital register.
• Ischemic heart diseases occurred significantly more frequently among people in the comparison group.
• Monitoring of health conditions is essential in adults with infantile autism.

BackgroundResearch dealing with adult people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) noticeably lags behind studies of children and young individuals with ASD.AimsThe objective of this study was to compare the prevalence and types of diseases of the circulatory system in a clinical sample of 118 adult people diagnosed with infantile autism (IA) as children with 336 sex and age matched controls from the general population.Methods and proceduresAll participants were screened through the nationwide Danish National Hospital Register. The average observation time of both groups was 37.2 years, and mean age at follow-up was 49.6 years.Outcomes and resultsOf the 118 people with IA, 11 (9.3%) were registered with at least one disease of the circulatory system against 54 (16.1%) in the comparison group (p = 0.09; OR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.3–1.2). Ischemic heart diseases occurred significantly more frequently among people in the comparison group (p = 0.02).Conclusions and implicationsIt is argued that diseases of the circulatory system may be underdiagnosed in people with IA because of the difficulties they face with respect to identifying and communicating symptoms of ill health. Bearing in mind that cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of death in most developed countries, it is suggested that to prevent disease and manage health conditions, health monitoring is essential in adult people with IA.