This study compared mortality among Danish citizens with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) with that of the general population. A clinical cohort of 341 Danish individuals with variants of ASD, previously followed over the period 1960-93, now on average 43 years of age, were updated with respect to mortality and causes of death. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for various times after diagnosis. In all, 26 persons with ASD had died, whereas the expected number of deaths was 13.5. Thus the mortality risk among those with ASD was nearly twice that of the general population. The SMR was particularly high in females. The excess mortality risk has remained unchanged since our first study in 1993. Eight of the 26 deaths were associated with epilepsy and four died from epilepsy. Future staff education should focus on better managing of the complex relationships between ASD and physical illness to prevent avoidable deaths.

The prevalence and pattern of criminal behaviour in a population of 313 former child psychiatric in-patients with pervasive developmental disorders were studied. The patients were divided into three subgroups and compared with 933 matched controls from the general population. Age at follow-up was between 25 years and 59 years. An account of convictions in the nationwide Danish Register of Criminality was used as a measure of criminal behaviour. Among 113 cases with childhood autism, .9% had been convicted. In atypical autism (n=86) and Asperger's syndrome (n=114) the percentages were 8.1% and 18.4%, respectively. The corresponding rate of convictions in the comparison groups was 18.9%, 14.7%, and 19.6% respectively. Particular attention is given to arson in Asperger's syndrome (p= .0009).

A follow-up carried out on an average 12.5 years after hospital contact of 151 patients with a former diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN), aimed at reproduction outcome. None of the 11 males had children. Fifty of the 140 women had given birth to a total of 86 children, which is approximately one third of the expected fertility. Involuntary childlessness was of the same size as found in the background population. The rate of prematurity among the offspring was twice the expected and perinatal lethality six times the expected. Mentally the mothers did well, both during pregnancy and the post partum period. They breast-fed their children for the same mean time as did other women, and the development of the children did not differ from that found in a background population. More women in the group of mothers than in the group of non-mothers had better scores of all-round functioning at follow-up.

This register study compared the rates and types of autoimmune disease in the parents of 111 patients (82 males, 29 females; mean age at diagnosis 5y 5mo [SD 2y 6mo]) with infantile autism (IA) with a matched control group of parents of 330 children from the general population. All parents were screened through the nationwide Danish National Hospital Register. We inquired about 35 autoimmune diseases during an observation period of 27 years. At follow‐up the case and control mothers were identical in age (65y 7mo [SDs 9y 7mo and 9y respectively]). For case and control fathers the figures were 70 years 2 months (SD 10y 2mo) and 69 years 1 month (SD 10y 1mo) respectively. A similar proportion of case and control mothers had a diagnosis of any autoimmune disease: 10.8% versus 9.1%. For case fathers the proportion was 8.6% versus 4.6%. Two autoimmune conditions were associated with IA: ulcerative colitis in mothers (p=0.05) and type 1 diabetes in fathers (p=0.02). Additional studies are required to determine whether there is a true association between a parental history of autoimmune disease and pervasive developmental disorder in their offspring.

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