TABLE 1.
Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network (2006–2014) sample characteristics of 4‐ and 8‐year‐old autistic children, cross‐tabulated proportions with sensory features, and results from univariate and multivariable logistic regression models (dependent variable: sensory features) (N = 25,627)
| Sample description number (percent) | Proportion with sensory features percent | Univariate logistic regression a OR (95% CI) | Multivariable logistic regression a OR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensory feature variable b | ||||
| Sensory features | 18,968 (74.0) | |||
| No sensory features | 6659 (26.0) | |||
| Age of cohort | ||||
| 4 years old | 2913 (11.4) | 70.1 | Reference | Reference |
| 8 years old | 22,714 (88.6) | 74.5 | 1.07 (0.97–1.17) | 0.86 (0.78–0.96) |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 4672 (18.2) | 71.8 | Reference | Reference |
| Male | 20,954 (81.8) | 74.5 | 1.17 (1.08–1.25) | 1.20 (1.11–1.30) |
| Missing | 1 (<0.1) | |||
| Race/ethnicity c | ||||
| White, NH | 14,071 (54.9) | 77.8 | Reference | Reference |
| Black, NH | 5144 (20.1) | 68.2 | 0.63 (0.58–0.68) | 0.71 (0.66–0.78) |
| American Indian or Alaska native, NH | 136 (0.5) | 71.3 | 0.64 (0.44–0.93) | 0.71 (0.47–1.07) |
| Asian or Pacific Islander, NH | 919 (3.6) | 71.9 | 0.70 (0.60–0.82) | 0.78 (0.66–0.92) |
| Other race, NH | 747 (2.9) | 75.2 | 0.81 (0.68–0.97) | 0.86 (0.71–1.04) |
| Hispanic (any race) | 3924 (15.3) | 68.7 | 0.64 (0.59–0.70) | 0.76 (0.69–0.83) |
| Missing | 686 (2.7) | 71.3 | 0.90 (0.76–1.08) | 1.15 (0.94–1.40) |
| Mother's education | ||||
| <12 years | 2259 (8.8) | 67.1 | Reference | Reference |
| 12 years | 4785 (18.7) | 70.5 | 1.20 (1.08–1.34) | 1.17 (1.04–1.32) |
| 13–15 years | 4209 (16.4) | 74.3 | 1.48 (1.32–1.66) | 1.47 (1.30–1.67) |
| 16 years | 3722 (14.5) | 77.3 | 1.75 (1.55–1.97) | 1.69 (1.48–1.93) |
| >16 years | 2275 (8.9) | 79.9 | 2.06 (1.79–2.37) | 2.03 (1.74–2.37) |
| Missing | 8377 (32.7) | 74.7 | 1.42 (1.28–1.59) | 1.43 (1.27–1.61) |
| Cognition | ||||
| SS > 70 | 12,493 (48.7) | 76.9 | Reference | Reference |
| SS ≤ 70 | 6534 (25.5) | 77.1 | 1.06 (0.99–1.14) | 1.01 (0.93–1.10) |
| Missing | 6600 (25.8) | 65.5 | 0.60 (0.56–0.65) | 0.83 (0.76–0.90) |
| Adaptive behavior | ||||
| SS > 70 | 6625 (25.9) | 77.2 | Reference | Reference |
| SS ≤ 70 | 7464 (29.1) | 79.6 | 1.19 (1.10–1.30) | 1.11 (1.01–1.21) |
| Missing | 11,538 (45.0) | 68.6 | 0.68 (0.63–0.73) | 0.90 (0.82–0.98) |
| Emotional states | ||||
| No mood or affect problems | 5849 (22.8) | 59.7 | Reference | Reference |
| Mood or affect problems | 19,778 (77.2) | 78.3 | 2.18 (2.04–2.32) | 1.41 (1.31–1.51) |
| Aggression | ||||
| No aggression problems | 12,175 (47.5) | 68.3 | Reference | Reference |
| Aggression problems | 13,452 (52.5) | 79.2 | 1.72 (1.62–1.82) | 1.19 (1.11–1.27) |
| Motor | ||||
| No motor delay problems | 6978 (27.2) | 56.9 | Reference | Reference |
| Motor delay problems | 18,649 (72.8) | 80.4 | 2.99 (2.81–3.18) | 2.16 (2.02–2.31) |
| Hyperactivity/attention | ||||
| No hyperactivity or attention problems | 3254 (12.7) | 54.9 | Reference | Reference |
| Hyperactivity or attention problems | 22,373 (87.3) | 76.8 | 2.62 (2.42–2.84) | 1.67 (1.53–1.82) |
| Fear (lack of, or excessive) | ||||
| No problems in lack of/excessive fear | 14,097 (55.0) | 65.2 | Reference | Reference |
| Problems in lack of/excessive fear | 11,530 (45.0) | 84.8 | 2.74 (2.57–2.92) | 1.99 (1.85–2.13) |
| Sleep | ||||
| No sleep problems | 16,693 (65.1) | 68.9 | Reference | Reference |
| Sleep problems | 8934 (34.9) | 83.5 | 2.12 (1.99–2.27) | 1.36 (1.27–1.47) |
| Eating/drinking | ||||
| No eating/drinking problems | 11,434 (44.6) | 62.5 | Reference | Reference |
| Eating/drinking problems | 14,193 (55.4) | 83.3 | 2.84 (2.68–3.02) | 2.10 (1.97–2.24) |
Note: SSs >70 represent scores within two standard deviations of the mean or higher, SSs ≤70 represent scores less than or equal to two standard deviations below the mean. Bolded results are significant at α = 0.05 level.
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; NH, non‐Hispanic; OR, odds ratio; SS, standard score.
The logistic regressions to test the univariate and multivariate associations with sensory features were fit as multilevel models with site and surveillance year * site as random effects.
The sensory features variable indicates documentation of the presence of any atypical sensory behaviors in a single ADDM variable (further defined in the text), proportions were suppressed for cell sizes <5.
Race/ethnicity groups are coded as mutually exclusive.