Intestinal Symptoms in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Multi-City Chinese Study

This study compared intestinal symptoms in 1,222 children with ASD and 1,206 typically developing children aged 2-7 years across 13 Chinese cities using validated scales. Children with ASD showed significantly higher rates of constipation (40.1% vs 25.6%) and other GI issues, which correlated with more severe autism symptom scores.