The purpose of the present study is to try to classify autistic children into distinct subgroups, by clinical morphological examination. We mainly want to answer the following questions: 1) Is there an increased prevalence of minor anomalies in…
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Congenital and hereditary disorders NEC
- Mental impairment disorders
- Psychiatric disorders NEC
Synonym
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
To try to classify autism, using clinical morphological examination, in
different subgroups in order to be able to predict prognosis more precisely.
Secondary outcome
Not applicable
Background summary
The effects of autism extend significantly beyond those afflicted by it. It
also causes a heavy burden for their families and society, and it constitutes a
big work load in child psychiatry. There is a number of studies that describe
the prevalence of minor physical anomalies in children with autism, and in most
of them the prevalence of minor anomalies was found to be increased. However,
the available studies reported on relatively small patient samples which
prevented reporting on the overall incidence of known syndromic entities within
the study cohorts. Delineating subgroups in autism might give a more firm basis
for predicting prognosis and might help to discover causes of specific
subgroups.
Study objective
The purpose of the present study is to try to classify autistic children into
distinct subgroups, by clinical morphological examination. We mainly want to
answer the following questions: 1) Is there an increased prevalence of minor
anomalies in autism? 2) If so, are determinable (patterns of) anomalies,
related to specific subgroups of autism? 3) are sets of certain features/
anomalies related to specific phenotypic behavior characteristics in children
with autism?
Study design
Clinical evaluation:
A physical examination will focus on dysmorphic features. It will be a surface
examination: neither auscultation of the heart, nor abdominal palpation will be
done. The examination will take 15 minutes, which does not constitute a
significant burden for the children and parents. Clinical examination will
include standard morphologic measurements of the face, ears, head, hands, and
feet. (Hall et al.,1989; Aase,1990) Each child will be examined by the same
physician (HMO), who is trained in the scoring of phenotypic findings. She had
a training in dysmorphology (Merks et al., in press 2006). In the present
study, 10 % of the subjects will be scored independently by the investigator
(HMO) and an experienced clinical geneticist- pediatrician (FAB) also
Study burden and risks
There are no risks associated with morphological examination as only a physical
examination is done. The technique is non-invasive and painless, and does not
include the examination of genitals.
The collected data are used for research purposes only.The examination will
take 15 minutes, which does not constitute a significant burden for the
children and parents.
Heidelberglaan 100
3508GA utrecht
NL
Heidelberglaan 100
3508GA utrecht
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
1)Confirmed clinical diagnosis of autism or ASD made by a child psychiatrist based on DSM-IV criteria
2)Chronological age between 3 and 18 years
Exclusion criteria
Refusal to sign the informed consent (refusal to participate in the study)
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL11715.041.06 |