Prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders in adult clients with pervasive developmental disorders.
Half of adults with PDD have GI pain—check for reflux before you treat a behavior spike.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Eberhart et al. (2006) checked medical charts of adults with pervasive developmental disorders. They compared GI diagnoses to a matched group with intellectual disability only.
The team wanted to know if GI pain is more common in PDD than in ID alone.
What they found
Almost half of the PDD group had a GI disorder. Reflux was the top problem.
The rate was six times higher than in the ID-only group.
How this fits with other research
Lee et al. (2018) saw the same link in kids. They found more Crohn’s and colitis in children with ASD. The GI-ASD tie is not just an adult issue.
Bottema-Beutel et al. (2023) added a twist. In youth, GI pain and internalizing symptoms feed each other. A stomach ache today can predict anxiety tomorrow and vice versa.
Beck et al. (2021) seems to disagree. In kids with Down syndrome, GI issues forecast worse behavior. The key difference is diagnosis: Down syndrome, not PDD. Same body system, different population.
Why it matters
Before you write a behavior plan, rule out reflux. Ask about night waking, arching, or picky eating. A simple antacid or diet change may drop problem behavior faster than any token system.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: In clients with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), some authors have noticed the presence of gastrointestinal disorders and behavioural disorders. An augmented prevalence of different histological anomalies has also been reported. The aim of our study is to highlight the prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders in this adult with PDD sample and to demonstrate the importance of accurate evaluation of gastrointestinal disorders in clients with PDD. METHODS: The present comparative study involved 118 clients. Our research was motivated by the clinical observation that behavioural disorders sometimes disappeared with administration of anti-gastric acid or anti-ulcerous medications. It focused on two samples of clients with intellectual disability - those with associated PDD and those without. The presence of gastrointestinal disorders was assessed retrospectively on the basis of hospital records. RESULTS: The prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders reported in clinical files was 48.8% in clients with PDD, as compared with 8.0% in non-PDD clients (P < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: Gastrointestinal disorders, and especially gastro-oesophageal reflux, if neglected, may contribute to behavioural disorders in PDD clients. Moreover, gastrointestinal disorders may be considered as a feature of PDD. We highlight the fact that somatic disorders may coexist in persons with PDD.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2006 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2006.00833.x