Advanced parental age association with the development of autism spectrum disorders in children: Meta-analysis

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most frequent neurological conditions in infancy, afflicting about 1 in 36 children, with a male-to-female ratio of 4:5:1. Children with autism spectrum disorder often struggle with communication, social relationships, and adjusting to rapid changes. In addition to confined repetitive modes of behavior, pursuits, or activities. This systematic review and meta-analysis explore the link between advanced parental age risk factors and the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in youngsters. Methods The search cross-referenced multiple databases including Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, Scopus, CINAHL and Cochrane Library to find relevant studies to incorporate in this review and meta-analysis until June 2022. Data was pulled focusing on (i) bibliographic information (ii) research design (iii) sample size, (iv) exposure and outcomes analytic technique and definitions, (v) risk of bias assessments, (vi) effect estimates (adjusted and unadjusted), (vii) confounding variables. Statistical analysis was performed on Review Manager Version 5.4 to compute the effect sizes of the risk in the form of an odds ratio at a 95% confidence interval. Results The search yielded twenty-one studies that were included in the meta-analysis. Advanced parental age compared to the reference points was associated with a 59% surge in the development of risk of autism spectrum disorders in children OR (odds ratio) = 1.59 with 95% CI (1.45-1.74). Meta-regression analysis demonstrated that an increase of 10 years in maternal and paternal age was associated with a 35% and 29% higher risk of autism respectively. Interpretation Advanced parental age was associated with the development of autism spectrum disorder in children. More mechanistic studies are required to further clarify this positive association.