Individuals with autism spectrum disorder experience a significant number of co-occurring medical conditions, yet little is known about these conditions beyond prevalence. Using large-scale de-identified medical records, we can use a novel phecode-based tool to characterize co-occurring conditions in autism spectrum disorder. We hypothesized that individuals with autism spectrum disorder experience an increased burden of co-occurring conditions as measured by presence, frequency, and duration of visits related to co-occurring conditions. Secondarily, we hypothesized that age at first encounter for autism spectrum disorder (early, <5; late, >5) would be associated with different co-occurring conditions. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes were extracted from a large anonymized electronic medical center database for 3097 individuals with autism spectrum disorder and 3097 matched controls. Co-occurring conditions were characterized using a novel tool (pyPheWAS) to examine presence, frequency, and duration of each condition. We identified several categories of co-occurring conditions in autism spectrum disorder: neurological (convulsions, sleep disorders); psychiatric (anxiety disorders, adjustment/conduct disorders), as well as constipation, hearing loss, and developmental delays. Our work confirms individuals with autism spectrum disorder are under a significant medical burden, with increased duration and frequency of visits associated with co-occurring conditions. Adequate management of these conditions could improve quality of life for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Lay abstract People with autism spectrum disorder often have a number of other medical conditions in addition to autism. These can range from constipation to epilepsy. This study uses medical record data to understand how frequently and how long people with autism have to be seen by a medical professional for these other medical conditions. This study confirmed that people with autism often have a number of other medical conditions and that they have to go see a medical professional about those conditions often. We also looked to see if children diagnosed with autism after age 5 years might have different medical conditions compared to children diagnosed earlier. Children diagnosed later had more conditions like asthma, hearing loss, and mood disorders. This work describes how much medical care people with autism get for different medical conditions and the burden of seeking additional medical care for people with autism and their families.
Corrigendum: Characterizing the Interplay Between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Comorbid Medical Conditions: An Integrative Review
