Gastrointestinal and Sleep Disorders in Children With and Without Autism

This study aimed to describe a subgroup of children with autism, ages 3–17, referred for polysomnography, and the types and frequency of clinical encounters for gastrointestinal (GI) diagnoses that may contribute to sleep problems in a sample of children ages 3–17 with and without the diagnosis of autism; report gastrointestinal disorders and their associations with sleep disorders in this population; and report gastrointestinal disorders most predictive of sleep disorders in children with and without autism. The authors conducted a secondary data analysis of the de-identified Nationwide Children’s Hospital Sleep DataBank encounters with children referred for polysomnography. Descriptive statistics described a sample of 3053 unique participants (M = 7.26 years) between 2017 and 2019. In children with autism, gastrointestinal disorders were prevalent. Chi-square statistics revealed an association between having autism and sleep disorders. Outcomes of multiple regression revealed that constipation, diarrhea, and nausea/vomiting predicted sleep problems in children with autism greater than those in children without autism. Findings support the increased presence of co-occurring GI symptoms and sleep problems in children with autism and the need for sleep evaluation in children with gastrointestinal symptoms. Further investigation of the gut–brain interaction in children with autism is needed.