Anemia associated with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the prevalence of anemia in children and adolescents with autism, between 3 and 18 years old, through a retrospective review in medical records. Additionally, items relating to food selectivity and/or restriction were assed. A total of 118 medical reports were reviewed concerning hematimetric parameters (serum ferritin, iron, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, and red cell distribution width). We found that 28.07% had anemia based on hemoglobin, according to the WHO; in these patients, 21.5% had some type of food selectivity. Regarding anemia as a result of iron deficiency (ferritin below 12 μg/l for children under five years and below 15μ/L for over five years) we verified that 19 patients presented a positive result. The high frequency of adolescents and children with anemia suggests that these parameters should be measured as part of a routine investigation in Autism Spectrum Disorder as a standard practice.