Potential Causes And Risk Factors Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Age Of Parents

Over the past two decades, multiple published studies have indicated older parents are more likely to have children with autism spectrum disorder than young ones. The study found older fathers are particularly likely to have children with autism spectrum disorder. At the same time, some studies indicate mothers are more likely to have children with this condition at both older and younger ages than the average mother. One study was published in 2006 and showed that after thirty, men have a 1.6 times higher risk of fathering children with autism spectrum disorder. When men reach their forties, the risk becomes six times higher. However, the statistical findings of other studies have had a wider range. In one study, researchers concluded the risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder was only five to ten percent higher if the parents were in their forties. Conversely, another study showed the risk becomes seventy-five percent higher if a father is over forty-five years old. For men over fifty-five years old, an analysis of medical records showed the risk was about four times higher than for men under thirty years old.

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