Table 2.
Comparison of ‘Current’ GI symptomsa (in the past 3 months) for cases (ASD) and controls (TD and DD). CHARGE study 2003–2011.
| ASD n=499 |
TD n=324 |
DD n=137 |
P valueb | AU n=339 |
ASD n=160 |
P valueb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GI symptomsc | % | % | % | % | % | ||
| Abdominal pain | 5.1% | 1.6% | 3.9% | 0.03 | 5.9% | 3.5% | 0.27 |
| Gaseousness/bloating sensation | 11.0% | 2.0% | 2.3% | <0.0001 | 11.7% | 9.6% | 0.51 |
| Diarrhea | 13.0% | 1.6% | 6.1% | <0.0001 | 16.1% | 6.4% | 0.002 |
| Constipation | 15.5% | 3.5% | 15.8% | <0.0001 | 16.8% | 12.5% | 0.22 |
| Pain on stooling | 6.2% | 1.6% | 5.5% | 0.004 | 7.4% | 3.4% | 0.08 |
| Vomiting | 2.9% | 0.3% | 6.2% | 0.0006 | 2.7% | 3.2% | 0.76 |
| Sensitivity to foods | 31.0% | 4.5% | 11.1% | <0.0001 | 32.1% | 28.9% | 0.49 |
| Difficulty swallowing | 4.2% | 0.3% | 4.6% | 0.0005 | 4.0% | 4.6% | 0.77 |
| Blood in stools | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 0.62 | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1 |
| Blood in vomit | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.32 |
| Presence of related issuesd | |||||||
| Food allergies Y/N | 23.0% | 11.1% | 13.5% | <0.0001 | 19.7% | 20.3% | 0.88 |
| Food restrictions Y/N | 37.4% | 10.4% | 21.6% | <0.0001 | 40.2% | 31.4% | 0.06 |
| Food dislikes Y/N | 63.5% | 34.0% | 34.6% | <0.0001 | 63.8% | 62.9% | 0.89 |
| GI diagnosis Y/N | 7.5% | 1.9% | 22.9% | <0.0001 | 7.8% | 6.9% | 0.7 |
a
Those reporting symptoms occur ‘frequently’ or ‘always’ on Likert scale
b
P values calculated using chi-square test; Fisher’s exact test used where applicable
c
Number of missing data for entire sample for the first ten GI question varies from 29–77
d
Number of missing data for entire sample for the last four questions varies from 19–38 (except ‘food dislikes’ missing=332)