| Summary: | Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder
affecting individuals along a continuum of severity in communication, social
interaction and behaviour. The impact of ASD significantly varies amongst
individuals, and the cause of ASD can originate broadly between genetic and
environmental factors.
Previous ASD researches indicate that early identification combined with a
targeted treatment plan involving behavioural interventions and multidisciplinary
therapies can provide substantial improvement for ASD patients. Currently there
is no cure for ASD, and the clinical variability and uncertainty of the disorder still
remains. Hence, the search to unravel heterogeneity within ASD by subgroup
classification may provide clinicians with a better understanding of ASD and to
work towards a more definitive course of action.
In this study, a norm of physical measurements including height, weight, head
circumference, ear length, outer and inner canthi, interpupillary distance, philtrum,
hand and foot length was collected from 658 Typical Developing (TD) Chinese
children aged 1 to 7 years (mean age of 4.19 years). The norm collected was
compared against 80 ASD Chinese children aged 1 to 12 years (mean age of 4.36
years). We then further attempted to find subgroups within ASD based on
identifying physical abnormalities; individuals were classified as
(non)dysmorphic with the Autism Dysmorphology Measure (ADM) from physical
examinations of 12 body regions.
Our results show that there were significant differences between ASD and TD
children for measurements in: head circumference (p=0.009), outer (p=0.021) and
inner (p=0.021) canthus, philtrum length (p=0.003), right (p=0.023) and left
(p=0.20) foot length. Within the 80 ASD patients, 37(46%) were classified as
dysmorphic (p=0.00).
This study attempts to identify subgroups within ASD based on physical
measurements and dysmorphology examinations. The information from this
study seeks to benefit ASD community by identifying possible subtypes of ASD
in Chinese population; in seek for a more definitive diagnosis, referral and
treatment plan. === published_or_final_version === Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine === Master === Master of Philosophy
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