Epilepsy in Autism is Associated with Intellectual Disability and Gender: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis

An investigation of comorbid psychological disorders, sleep problems, gastrointestinal symptoms and epilepsy in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…This is supported by Pavone, Incorpora, Fiumara, Parano, Trifiletti, & Ruggieri (2004) who found the prevalence to be 6% in children with ASD without additional neurological disorders. More males than females had epilepsy in the current study, which is in contrast to the Amiet et al's (2008) study.…”

“…The more severe the ID, the more prevalent epilepsy is and the greater part of statistical association between epilepsy and ID in autism relates to moderate and severe ID (Amiet et al, 2008). Amiet et al (2008) also found that more females than males with autism had a diagnosis of epilepsy, where the prevalence of epilepsy was 34.5% in females versus 18.5% in males. Furthermore, Tuchman et al (1991) found that girls with autism had lower cognitive ability than boys.…”

“…Reports of the frequency of epilepsy in autism range from 5% to 38.3% (Tuchman, Rapin & Shinnar, 1991;Mouridsen, Rich & Isager, 1999;Rossi, Parneggiani, Bach, Santucci 6 Comorbidity in children and adolescents with ASD In their meta-analysis, Amiet, Gourfinkel-An, Bouzamondo, Tordjman, Baulac, Lechat et al (2008) found that ID was found to be a risk factor for epilepsy where the prevalence of epilepsy was 21.4% in individuals with autism and ID versus 8% in individuals with autism without ID. The more severe the ID, the more prevalent epilepsy is and the greater part of statistical association between epilepsy and ID in autism relates to moderate and severe ID (Amiet et al, 2008).…”

Demographic and Cognitive Profile of Individuals Seeking a Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adulthood

“…The rate reported here of 2 out of 100 (2%) is more in keeping with rates in the general population (2.9%; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007) and very low for typical ASD samples. However, the current sample does not include individuals with learning disabilities, and previous studies have suggested that intellectual impairment mediates the association between ASD and epilepsy (Amiet et al 2008). It is worth noting, that of the two individuals with ASD who had epilepsy, one was found to have a learning disability (and was not included in the analysis) and the other had epilepsy possibly associated with alcohol misuse.…”

Epigenetic Mechanisms in Stroke and Epilepsy

“…A prominent comorbidity is that of children diagnosed with both autism and epilepsy (Berg et ............................................................................................................................................................ et al, 2011). Approximately 20-30% of children with autism have seizures, with the highest rate in autistic children with severe intellectual disabilities (Amiet et al, 2008;Berg et al, 2010;Tuchman et al, 2010). Moreover, six percent of children who suffer a seizure very early in life (aged 1-2 years) develop ASDs with intellectual disabilities (Clarke et al, 2005).…”