Association of maternal use of folic acid and multivitamin supplements in the periods before and during pregnancy with the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring

Stephen Z. Levine, Arad Kodesh, Alexander Viktorin, Lauren Smith, Rudolf Uher, Abraham Reichenberg, Sven Sandin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

97 Scopus citations

Abstract

Importance: The association of maternal use of folic acid and multivitamin supplements before and during pregnancy with the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring is unclear. Objective: To examine the associations between the use of maternal folic acid and multivitamin supplements before and during pregnancy and the risk of ASD in offspring. Design, Setting, and Participants: A case-control cohort study of 45 300 Israeli children born between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2007, were followed up from birth to January 26, 2015, for the risk of ASD. The cases were all children diagnosed with ASD and the controls were a random sample of 33%of all live-born children. Exposures: Maternal vitamin supplements were classified for folic acid (vitamin B9), multivitamin supplements (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical A11 codes vitamins A, B, C, and D), and any combination thereof exposed in the intervals before and during pregnancy. Main Outcomes and Measures: The association between maternal vitamin supplementation and the risk of ASD in offspring was quantified with relative risks (RRs) and their 95%CIs fitting Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for confounders. Sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of the results. Results: Of the 45 300 children in the study (22 090 girls and 23 210 boys; mean [SD] age, 10.0 [1.4] years at the end of follow-up), 572 (1.3%) received a diagnosis of ASD. Maternal exposure to folic acid and/or multivitamin supplements before pregnancy was statistically significantly associated with a lower likelihood of ASD in the offspring compared with no exposure before pregnancy (RR, 0.39; 95%CI, 0.30-0.50; P < .001). Maternal exposure to folic acid and/or multivitamin supplements during pregnancy was statistically significantly associated with a lower likelihood of ASD in offspring compared with no exposure during pregnancy (RR, 0.27; 95%CI, 0.22-0.33; P < .001). Corresponding RRs were estimated for maternal exposure to folic acid before pregnancy (RR, 0.56; 95%CI, 0.42-0.74; P = .001), maternal exposure to folic acid during pregnancy (RR, 0.32; 95%CI, 0.26-0.41; P < .001), maternal exposure to multivitamin supplements before pregnancy (RR, 0.36; 95%CI, 0.24-0.52; P < .001), and maternal exposure to multivitamin supplements during pregnancy (RR, 0.35; 95%CI, 0.28-0.44; P < .001). The results generally remained statistically significant across sensitivity analyses. Conclusions and Relevance: Maternal exposure to folic acid and multivitamin supplements before and during pregnancy is associated with a reduced risk of ASD in the offspring compared with the offspring of mothers without such exposure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)176-184
Number of pages9
JournalJAMA Psychiatry
Volume75
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding/Support: This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health; grant HD073978 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; grant MH097849 from the National Institute of Mental Health; by the Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation (Dr Sandin is a Seaver Fellow); by the Fredrik and Ingrid Thuring Foundation; and by the Swedish Society of Medicine.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

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