There is a growing recognition of sex and gender influences in autism. Increasingly, studies include comparisons between sexes or genders, but few have focused on clarifying the characteristics of autistic girls’/women’s physical health. A scoping review was conducted to determine what is currently known about the physical health of autistic girls/women. We screened 1112 unique articles, with 40 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. We used a convergent iterative process to synthesize this content into broad thematic areas. Autistic girls/women experience more overall physical health challenges compared to non-autistic girls/women and to autistic boys/men. Emerging evidence suggests increased prevalence of epilepsy in autistic girls/women compared to non-autistic girls/women and to autistic boys/men. The literature also suggests increased endocrine and reproductive health conditions in autistic girls/women compared to non-autistic girls/women. Findings regarding gastrointestinal, metabolic, nutritional, and immune-related conditions are preliminary and inconsistent. The literature has substantial heterogeneity in how physical health conditions were assessed and reported. Further, our explicit focus on physical health may have constrained the ability to examine interactions between mental and physical health. The widely differing research aims and methodologies make it difficult to reach definitive conclusions. Nevertheless, in keeping with the goals of a scoping review, we were able to identify key themes to guide future research. The emerging literature suggests that autistic girls/women have heightened rates of physical health challenges compared to non-autistic girls/women and to autistic boys/men. Clinicians should seek to provide holistic care that includes a focus on physical health and develop a women’s health lens when providing clinical care to autistic girls/women.

中文翻译：

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自闭症女孩和妇女的身体健康：范围审查

人们越来越认识到自闭症中的性别和性别影响。越来越多的研究包括性别或性别之间的比较，但很少有人关注阐明自闭症女孩/女性身体健康的特征。进行了范围界定审查，以确定目前对自闭症女孩/妇女身体健康的了解。我们筛选了 1112 篇独特的文章，其中 40 项研究符合纳入标准。我们使用收敛迭代过程将这些内容合成为广泛的主题领域。与非自闭症女孩/女性和自闭症男孩/男性相比，自闭症女孩/女性面临更多的整体身体健康挑战。新出现的证据表明，与非自闭症女孩/女性和自闭症男孩/男性相比，自闭症女孩/女性的癫痫患病率增加。文献还表明，与非自闭症女孩/女性相比，自闭症女孩/女性的内分泌和生殖健康状况有所增加。关于胃肠道、代谢、营养和免疫相关疾病的研究结果是初步的且不一致。文献在如何评估和报告身体健康状况方面存在很大的异质性。此外，我们对身体健康的明确关注可能限制了检查心理和身体健康之间相互作用的能力。广泛不同的研究目标和方法使得很难得出明确的结论。尽管如此，为了与范围审查的目标保持一致，我们能够确定指导未来研究的关键主题。新出现的文献表明，与非自闭症女孩/女性和自闭症男孩/男性相比，自闭症女孩/女性面临更高的身体健康挑战。临床医生应寻求提供包括关注身体健康在内的整体护理，并在为自闭症女孩/女性提供临床护理时开发女性健康镜头。