Non-COVID Respiratory Infections Related Emergency Room Visits Among Autistic Adults in the United States

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Zandam, H., Moura, I., Akobirshoev, I., & Mitra, M. (2024). Non-COVID Respiratory Infections Related Emergency Room Visits Among Autistic Adults in the United States. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 68(1), 46-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2024.08.011

Publication date: 23 Aug 2024 Added to AutiHub: 9 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Hussaini Zandam
  2. Ian Moura *
  3. Ilhom Akobirshoev
  4. Monika Mitra

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This is a retrospective study that examines the risk of non-COVID-19 respiratory infection (RI)-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations among autistic adults. The study compares these findings to non-autistic adults using the 2018 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. METHODS: The data were analyzed in 2022 using the ICD-10-CM codes to extract 46,996 case records that included an autism diagonosis matched by age and sex (140,997) records that did not include an autism diagnosis in a 1:3 case-control ratio. Respiratory infections were also identified using the ICD-10-CM codes and classified by type. Logistic regression models were conducted for the likelihood of presenting with respiratory infections to the emergency department and subsequent hospitalization. All models were adjusted for covariates. RESULTS: Autistic adults were more likely to present with any type of respiratory infection at the emergency department (AOR=1.83, CI=1.69-2.42), lower respiratory infections (AOR=1.37, CI=1.09-1.50), and pneumonia (AOR=2.42, CI=1.98-2.47) compared to non-autistic adults.. They were also more likely to be hospitalized from respiratory infection during emergency department visits (AOR=3.87, CI=3.21-4.30), including upper respiratory infections and lower respiratory infections, pneumonia, and bronchitis. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with autism were more likely to experience emergency department visits and hospitalizations because of respiratory infections than individuals without autism. Amid growing evidence of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the autistic population, the study findings highlight a broader, pre-existing burden of respiratory infections among adults with autism in the U.S. that extend beyond the recent pandemic.

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 17 Oct 2026 01:28.

Cited references
46
With a DOI
45
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
1
6 / 46 (13.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 46 (2.2%)
References with detected author names
45 / 46 (97.8%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
1
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
378
From DOI or external metadata
378
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
76 / 378 (20.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 302 / 378 (79.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
18 / 378 (4.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 18 / 76 (23.7%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 10 / 357 (2.8%).
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