Effects of season of birth on Autism Spectrum Disorders: Fact or fiction?
Abstract
Objective: This study attempted to examine the relationship between month and season of birth and risk for autism spectrum disorders. Method: The cohort included all Jewish individuals born in Israel over 5 consecutive years (N=311,169) and assessed by the Israeli Draft Board as part of the mandatory assessment of eligibility for military service conducted at age 17. The outcome of autism spectrum disorders was ascertained from the Draft Board Medical Registry, which contains information about medical and psychiatric disorders for this population of adolescents. Results: There was no association between month or season of birth and the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders. Conclusions: The findings from this historical, population-based cohort study do not support an association between season of birth and autistic spectrum disorders.
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Not all studies showed an association between season of birth and risk of autism.
“Not all studies showed an association between season of birth and risk of autism [64,77,79,81,83,84,85,86].”
From Vitamin D and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review (2016) · cites this paper as [83]
Kolevzon et al. (2006) identified cases through a screening programme for military services in Israel, and Orthodox women were exempted from military service; therefore some autistic cases might have been missed.
“Kolevzon et al. (2006), identified cases through a screening programme for military services in Israel and Orthodox women were exempted from the military service. Therefore, some autistic cases might have been missed [83].”
From Vitamin D and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review (2016) · cites this paper as [83]
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- Authors
- Kolevzon, A., Weiser, M., Gross, R., Lubin, G., Knobler, H. Y., Schmeidler, J., Silverman, J. M., & Reichenberg, A.
- Affiliations
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kolevzon, Alexander
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 2006-07
- Volume
- 163
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1288-1290
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- OpenAlex
- W1989190751
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 0.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (U54MH066673)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, season of birth, birth month, birth seasonality, autism risk, Jewish population, adolescents
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Autistic Disorder, Birth Rate, Female, Humans, Israel, Male, Military Personnel, Registries, Risk Factors, Seasons, Cohort Studies, Prevalence
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