The Association between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Pre- and Postnatal Antibiotic Exposure in Childhood—A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Eunmi Lee, Jeonghyun Cho and Ka Young Kim
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Eunmi Lee: Department of Nursing, Research Institute for Basic Sciences, Hoseo University, Asan 31499, Korea
Jeonghyun Cho: Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea
Ka Young Kim: Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Gachon University, Incheon 21936, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-10

Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that begins in early childhood and has been associated with several environmental and genetic factors. We aimed to conduct two-side meta-analyses to determine the association between ASD and pre- and postnatal antibiotic exposure in childhood. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for articles published up to February 2019. We evaluated observational studies that assessed the association between ASD and antibiotic exposure. Of 1459 articles, nine studies were used in the meta-analysis. We found that early antibiotic exposure, including pre- and postnatal, significantly increased the ASD risk in children. Furthermore, early antibiotic exposure, including pre- and postnatal, was significantly increased in children with ASD. Specifically, prenatal antibiotic exposure was significantly increased in children with ASD; however, postnatal antibiotic exposure was not. Our results indicate an association between ASD and early antibiotic exposure; specifically, that prenatal antibiotic exposure is an important risk factor of ASD in children.

Keywords: antibiotic exposure; autism spectrum disorder (ASD); childhood; meta-analysis; systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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