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Little research has examined burn injury in the pediatric population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We used data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database to identify 15,844 participants aged <18 years with ASD and 130,860 participants without ASD. Our results revealed that the hazard ratios differed across three age ranges. The ASD group had a lower risk of burn injury than the non-ASD group when they were less than 6 years of age, a higher risk from 6 years to 12 years of age, and no difference when they were older than 12 years of age. More research is required to study the characteristics and causes of burn injury in the pediatric population with ASD.

The lymphocyte‐related ratios, neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are new measures of inflammation within the body. Few studies have investigated the inflammatory response of patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder. Clinically, the psychotic symptoms and behavioural manifestation of methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder are often indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia. We aimed to determine the differences in these inflammatory markers between patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder, patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. A total of 905 individuals were recruited. The NLR and MLR were found to be higher in both patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorders and patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls. There was no significant difference between the three groups in PLR. When compared with the control group, the methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder group was significantly higher in NLR 27% (95%CI = 11 to 46%, p = 0.001), MLR 16% (95%CI = 3% to 31%, p = 0.013) and PLR 16% (95%CI = 5% to 28%, p = 0.005). NLR of the group with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder was 17% (95%CI = 73% to 94%, p = 0.004) less than the group with schizophrenia, while MLR and PLR did not differ significantly between the two groups. This is the first study that investigated the lymphocyte‐related ratios in methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder when compared with patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. The results showed that both patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder and patients with schizophrenia had stronger inflammatory responses than the healthy control. Our finding also indicated that the inflammatory response of methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder was between those of patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study assessed prevalence of volatile substance abuse (VSA), and its link to other forms of psychoactive substance use and to other problem behaviours among 14-15 year olds recruited from sixteen secondary schools in south-west London. Lifetime use of volatile substances was reported by 126 young people (6% of the sample) whose mean age of first use was 12.6 years. Using logistic regression analysis, lifetime use of volatile substances was found to be associated with more frequent cigarette smoking and more frequent drinking in the previous month, with higher levels of anxiety, greater involvement in delinquent acts, and lower levels of educational aspirations. Among volatile substance abusers, more frequent use was associated with higher levels of psychological distress and greater delinquent activity. Volatile substance abuse may be a marker for other forms of substance use and for other behaviour problems. This issue remains inadequately explored by researchers and clinicians.

Aims. We aimed to investigate child mortality, perinatal morbidities and congenital anomalies born by women with substance misuse during or before pregnancy (DP or BP). Methods. Taiwan Birth Registration from 2004 to 2014 linking Integrated Illicit Drug Databases used to include substance misuse participates. Children born by mothers convicted of substance misuse DP or BP were the substance-exposed cohort. Two substance-unexposed comparison cohorts were established: one comparison cohort selected newborns from the rest of the population on a ratio of 1:1 and exact matched by the child's gender, child's birth year, mother's birth year and child's first use of the health insurance card; another comparison cohort matched newborns from exposed and unexposed mothers by their propensity scores calculated from logistic regression. Results. The exposure group included 1776 DP, 1776 BP and 3552 unexposed individuals in exact-matched cohorts. A fourfold increased risk of deaths in children born by mothers exposed to substance during pregnancy was found compared to unexposed group (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.54, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.07-9.97]. Further multivariate Cox regression models with adjustments and propensity matching substantially attenuated HRs on mortality in the substance-exposed cohort (aHR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.10-2.39). Raised risks of perinatal morbidities and congenital anomalies were also found. Conclusions. Increased risks of child mortality, perinatal morbidities or congenital anomalies were found in women with substance use during pregnancy. From estimates before and after adjustments, our results showed that having outpatient visits or medical utilizations during pregnancy were associated with substantially attenuated HRs on mortality in the substance-exposed cohort. Therefore, the excess mortality risk might be partially explained by the lack of relevant antenatal clinical care. Our finding may suggest that the importance of early identification, specific abstinence program and access to appropriate antenatal care might be helpful in reducing newborn mortality. Adequate prevention policies may be formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]