Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective This study aims to explore the relationship between gastrointestinal problems and clinical core symptoms and prognosis of children with Autism spectrum disorder, so as to provide clues for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of ASD. Methods 98 of children with ASD(ASD group) and 103 of healthy children(HC group) were enrolled in the group, and gastrointestinal problems were assessed. ASD group was divided into gastrointestinal positive group (GI+ group) and gastrointestinal negative group (GI- group) according to whether there were gastrointestinal problems. The core symptoms of ASD children were assessed by CARS and ABC respectively. After the behavioral rehabilitation therapy, the children with positive gastrointestinal symptoms were given the above scale again, and the correlation between the changes of gastrointestinal problems and their core symptoms and prognosis was statistically analyzed. Results The incidence of gastrointestinal problems in ASD group was significantly higher than that in HC group（P0.05）. The scores of CARS in GI+ group and GI- group were statistically significant. The CARS score of the children with improved gastrointestinal symptoms after treatment was significantly lower than that of the children without improved gastrointestinal symptoms, and was also significantly lower than that before treatment（P0.05）. When gastrointestinal symptoms were aggravated, most of the´children´s mental symptoms were also aggravated. Conclusion The incidence of gastrointestinal problems in ASD group was higher than that in HC group; Active intervention of gastrointestinal symptoms may be beneficial to the treatment of ASD, and gastrointestinal symptoms can be used as an indicator to predict the changes of ASD childrenundefineds condition.

Autism spectrum disorder; Gastrointestinal problems; Core symptoms; Diagnosis; Prognosis