Associations between autistic and comorbid somatic problems of gastrointestinal disorders, food allergy, pain, and fatigue in adults
Authors: Li Yiran , Xie Tian , Snieder Harold , Hartman Catharina A 
Published: May 2024

Autistic children often have comorbid somatic problems. However, in adulthood, this has been much less studied. We investigated the associations between autistic symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome, food allergy, pain, and fatigue in adulthood and examined sex and life-course differences herein. A total of 35,048 adults aged from 18 to 90 from the Lifelines Cohort Study reported autistic symptoms, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergy, pain, and fatigue. Associations between autistic and somatic problems were estimated by logistic and linear regression models. Higher autism scores were associated with more severe somatic problems with an odds ratio of 1.44 (95% confidence interval: (1.34, 1.55)) for irritable bowel syndrome, an odds ratio of 1.13 (95% confidence interval: (1.07, 1.20)) for food allergy, a regression coefficient ( b) of 0.20 (95% confidence interval: (0.18, 0.22)) for pain and a regression coefficient ( b) of 0.37 (95% confidence interval: (0.35, 0.39)) for fatigue. Associations were stronger in females than males for pain and fatigue. Associations declined with age for fatigue and food allergy and increased with age for irritable bowel syndrome and pain, in a subgroup with autism scores >98th percentile combined with symptom onset in childhood and high functional impairments. These findings are important for autistic adults and may aid in diagnosis, monitoring, and intervention.

Lay Abstract

What is already known about the topic? Autistic children frequently often have accompanying physical health problems. However, this has been much less studied in autistic men and women during adulthood. What does this article add? This is one of the first studies to investigate the associations between autistic and somatic problems in adults from the general population. Using a continuous measure of autistic symptom scores and a categorical definition of autism (referred to below as probable autism) which considered symptom severity, childhood age of onset, and functional impairment, we found that autistic problems and irritable bowel syndrome, food allergy, pain, and fatigue were associated in adults. Sex differences were present for pain and fatigue, for which the associations with autistic symptom scores were somewhat stronger in females than males. Regarding age differences, the associations with fatigue and having food allergy were more pronounced in younger adults. Conversely, older individuals had a higher risk of developing irritable bowel syndrome or experiencing pain if they met the criteria for probable autism. Implications for practice, research, or policy There is a need for providing routine programs of screening, assessment, and treatment of autism-related somatic problems and developing evidence-based interventions for autistic individuals. These could be tailored to the needs of specific autistic populations. For example, autistic females could be given extra attention about the potential presence of pain and fatigue, younger adults about the potential presence of food allergy and fatigue, and older adults concerning the potential presence of irritable bowel syndrome and pain.