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Finnish Prenatal Study of Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders (FIPS-A): Overview and Design

Abstract  

This article presents an overview of the Finnish Prenatal Study of Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders (FIPS-A), a new study
designed to examine the relationship between prenatal serologic factors, mediating and moderating developmental antecedents,
and risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The FIPS-A is based on register linkages between births from 1987 to 2005 ascertained
from the Finnish Medical Birth Register (FMBR) and other national registers on treatment for this group of disorders. All
subjects were members of the Finnish Maternity Cohort (FMC), which consists of virtually all births in Finland from 1983 to
the present, and which includes archived maternal serum samples. This study also capitalizes on other registry information,
such as systematically collected data on pregnancy, prenatal and neonatal complications and manual data collection from well-child
clinics providing developmental data from birth to the age of 7 years. In this paper, we describe the methods used in the
FIPS-A study, including a description of the national registers, available data and case ascertainment procedures. Finally,
we discuss implications of the data for future work on uncovering putative aetiologies of ASD and key strengths and limitations
of the design.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s10803-010-1132-6
  • Authors
    • Katja M. Lampi, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • P. Nina Banerjee, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
    • Mika Gissler, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Information Department, Helsinki, Finland
    • Susanna Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Jukka Huttunen, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Ulla Kulmala, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Jarna Lindroos, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Solja Niemelä, Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
    • Maria Rihko, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Terja Ristkari, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Kristiina Saanakorpi, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Tanja Sarlin, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Lauri Sillanmäki, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Ian W. McKeague, Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
    • Heljä-Marja Surcel, Department of Children, Young People and Families, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland
    • Hans Helenius, Department of Biostatistics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
    • Alan S. Brown, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
    • Andre Sourander, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Varia, 3rd floor, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 1, 20014 Turku, Finland