Prenatal Vitamins and the Risk of Offspring Autism Spectrum Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Prenatal nutrition is associated with offspring autism spectrum disorder (herein referred to as autism), yet, it remains unknown if the association is causal. Triangulation may improve causal inference by integrating the results of conventional multivariate regression with several alternative approaches that have unrelated sources of bias. We systematically reviewed the literature on the relationship between prenatal multivitamin supplements and offspring autism, and evidence for the causal approaches applied. Six databases were searched up to 8 June 2020, by which time we had screened 1309 titles/abstracts, and retained 12 articles. Quality assessment was guided using Newcastle-Ottawa in individual studies, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) for the body of evidence. The effect estimates from multivariate regression were meta-analysed in a random effects model and causal approaches were narratively synthesised. The meta-analysis of prenatal multivitamin supplements involved 904,947 children (8159 cases), and in the overall analysis showed no robust association with offspring autism; however, a reduced risk was observed in the subgroup of high-quality observational studies (RR 0.77, 95% CI (0.62, 0.96), I-2 = 62.4%), early pregnancy (RR 0.76, 95% CI (0.58; 0.99), I-2 = 79.8%) and prospective studies (RR 0.69, 95% CI (0.48, 1.00), I-2 = 95.9%). The quality of evidence was very low, and triangulation was of limited utility because alternative methods were used infrequently and often not robustly applied.

Automated summary

This study reviewed the relationship between prenatal multivitamin supplements and offspring autism, finding a trend of reduced autism risk in high-quality observational studies but no overall robust association. However, the application of causal inference was limited, and the quality of evidence needs to be improved.