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The CDC estimates that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 1 in 68 children. As these children enter adolescence and adulthood, are they at increased risk for substance use disorders? Investigators used multiple national registries in Sweden to compare substance use problems in 26,986 individuals diagnosed with ASD in 1974 through 2009, their 97,557 full- and half-siblings and parents, and 1,349,300 matched controls without ASD. Diagnoses of substance use problems included clinically established diagnoses and substance-related medical illnesses or deaths.
In conditional logistic regression, individuals with ASD had a higher risk for any substance-related problem than controls (odds ratio, 3.3); the highest risk was for drug u…