Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) such as anorexia nervosa (AN) are strongly linked as evidenced by frequent comorbidity and overlapping traits. However, eating and social behaviors are shaped by culture, so it is critical to examine these associations in different populations. Moreover, FEDs are heterogeneous, and there has been no examination of autistic traits in avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of ASD and autistic traits among Japanese children with AN (n = 92) or ARFID (n = 32) from a prospective multicenter cohort study using the Autism Spectrum Quotient Children’s version (AQC) and Children’s Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT26). ASD prevalence was high in both AN and ARFID (16.3 and 12.5%, respectively). The AN group exhibited significantly higher scores on all AQC subscales than an age-matched healthy control (HC) group, but there were no significant correlations between AQC scores and ChEAT26 scores. In the AFRID group, AQC scores did not differ from HCs, but significant correlations were found between total AQC and ChEAT26 scores and between several AQC and ChEAT26 subscales. Both the AN and ARFID groups had high prevalence rates of ASD. The AN group showed a significantly higher degree of autistic traits than the HC group; however, no difference was found between the ARFID and HC groups. Clinicians need to be aware of these rates when working with children with ED.

中文翻译：

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神经性厌食症和回避/限制性食物摄入障碍儿童中自闭症谱系障碍和自闭症特征的患病率

自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 与神经性厌食症 (AN) 等喂养和饮食失调 (FED) 密切相关，频繁的合并症和重叠特征就证明了这一点。然而，饮食和社会行为是由文化决定的，因此研究不同人群中的这些关联至关重要。此外，FED 具有异质性，并且尚未对回避/限制性食物摄入障碍 (ARFID) 中的自闭症特征进行检查。因此，我们通过一项前瞻性多中心队列研究，使用自闭症谱商儿童版 (AQC) 和儿童饮食态度测试 (AQC) 调查了患有 AN (n = 92) 或 ARFID (n = 32) 的日本儿童中 ASD 和自闭症特征的患病率（ ChEAT26）。AN 和 ARFID 中 ASD 患病率均较高（分别为 16.3% 和 12.5%）。AN 组在所有 AQC 分量表上的得分均显着高于年龄匹配的健康对照组 (HC) 组，但 ​​AQC 得分和 ChEAT26 得分之间没有显着相关性。在 AFRID 组中，AQC 得分与 HC 没有差异，但在 AQC 总得分和 ChEAT26 得分之间以及几个 AQC 和 ChEAT26 子量表之间发现显着相关性。AN 组和 ARFID 组的 ASD 患病率均较高。AN组表现出明显高于HC组的自闭症特征；然而，ARFID 组和 HC 组之间没有发现差异。临床医生在治疗 ED 儿童时需要了解这些比率。