Relation between blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity and autistic spectrum disorders: a population‐based study

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Abstract
Children with blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) ‐ who are at greatly increased risk of cerebral damage ‐ have been noted to have a high rate of autistic symptoms, but systematic controlled studies have been lacking. A controlled population‐based study was performed; one group was blind due to ROP (N=27) and the other was congenitally blind due to hereditary retinal disease (N=14). Fifteen of the 27 children with ROP had autistic disorder. All these children were mentally retarded and about one‐third of them had cerebral palsy. In the comparison group, two of the 14 children had autistic disorder. It is concluded that there is a strong association between ROP and autistic disorder. The association is most probably mediated by brain damage and is largely independent of the blindness per se.