TABLE 1.
Characteristics of Children with Autism and with Typical Development and their Mothers in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment Study, Northern California, 2003–2009
| Characteristics | Eligible Families
|
Genotyped Families
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autism (n = 288) | Typical Development (n = 278) | Autism (n = 238) | Typical Development (n = 232) | |
| No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | |
| Child sex | ||||
| Boy | 251 (87) | 228 (82) | 206 (87) | 192 (83) |
| Girl | 37 (13) | 50 (18) | 32 (13) | 40 (17) |
| Child race/ethnicity | ||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 146 (51) | 141 (51) | 126 (53) | 117 (50) |
| Hispanic | 82 (28) | 82 (30) | 60 (25) | 66 (28) |
| Non-Hispanic black | 6 (2) | 6 (2) | 6 (3) | 4 (2) |
| Asian | 24 (8) | 8 (3) | 20 (8) | 7 (3) |
| Mixed and other | 30 (10) | 41 (15) | 26 (11) | 38 (16) |
| Maternal age at child’s birth (years) | ||||
| ≤ 19 | 9 (3) | 14 (5) | 7 (3) | 11 (5) |
| 20–29 | 125 (45) | 106 (38) | 106 (45) | 89 (38) |
| 30–34 | 95 (34) | 107 (39) | 81 (34) | 95 (41) |
| 35 + | 51 (18) | 49 (18) | 44 (18) | 37 (16) |
| Maternal birthplace | ||||
| United States | 214 (74) | 223 (80) | 183 (77) | 187 (81) |
| Mexico | 21 (7) | 18 (6) | 12 (5) | 15 (6) |
| Other | 53 (18) | 37 (13) | 43 (18) | 30 (13) |
| Maternal education | ||||
| High school graduate or less | 44 (15) | 44 (16) | 35 (15) | 41 (18) |
| Some college, technical, vocational, associate degree | 104 (36) | 86 (31) | 85 (36) | 69 (30) |
| Bachelor, masters, professional, doctorate degree | 139 (48) | 148 (53) | 117 (49) | 122 (53) |
| Insurance delivery type | ||||
| Private | 240 (83) | 243 (87) | 203 (85) | 201 (87) |
| Government program | 48 (17) | 35 (13) | 35 (15) | 31 (13) |
| Intention to become pregnant | ||||
| Intended to become pregnant when she did | 181 (67) | 185 (70) | 159 (69) | 155 (69) |
| Indifferent about becoming pregnant at that time | 33 (12) | 34 (13) | 28 (12) | 32 (14) |
| Intended to become pregnant later | 39 (14) | 32 (12) | 33 (14) | 25 (11) |
| Did not intend to become pregnant at all | 18 (7) | 14 (5) | 12 (5) | 13 (6) |
| Maternal cigarette smokinga | ||||
| No | 230 (87) | 236 (89) | 196 (86) | 199 (89) |
| Yes | 35 (13) | 28 (11) | 32 (14) | 24 (11) |
| Maternal alcohol consumptiona | ||||
| No | 147 (55) | 124 (49) | 121 (52) | 105 (49) |
| Yes | 121 (45) | 131 (51) | 110 (48) | 111 (51) |
| Periconceptional maternal prenatal vitaminb | ||||
| No | 111 (44) | 70 (31) | 89 (42) | 63 (32) |
| Yes | 143 (56) | 159 (69) | 125 (58) | 133 (68) |
| Periconceptional maternal multivitaminb,c | ||||
| No | 106 (82) | 91 (83) | 85 (83) | 78 (84) |
| Yes | 23 (18) | 18 (17) | 18 (17) | 15 (16) |
a
Any reported for the period three months before pregnancy through the end of pregnancy.
b
Any reported for the three months before pregnancy and the first month of pregnancy.
c
Mothers who reported intake of prenatal vitamins during this period were excluded.