Is Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia Associated with Autism Spectrum Research Paper

Is Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Research Paper Example The two articles have a similar hypothesis. Both articles are trying to investigate whether neonatal jaundice is also known as neonatal/infant hyperbilirubinemia might be related to Autism Related Disorders (ARDs). The first article, Pediatrics, retrieved from the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics employs the case-control cohort study while the second article, retrieved from online publications uses retrospective case-control design. Therefore, this paper will examine how each investigation in each article was conducted. It will address the strengths and weaknesses the two approaches. The paper will conclude with suggestions on how I would design an ideal study to investigate the hypothesis. The research objective with regard to both journal articles was to investigate the association between neonatal hyperbilirubinemia/jaundice and autism spectrum disorders. As stated earlier, the investigations carried out in the journal article of paediatrics employed case-control cohort study. A large, population-based case control study, was carried out within an integrated health plan with extensive computerized data resources involving prospectively laboratory collected results and diagnoses (Pediatrics Digest as cited in Lisa et al., 2005). Case and control subjects were identified from the cohort of infants who were born at a northern California Kaiser Permanente (KP) facility between January 1995 and December 1998 and remained KP members for more than two years after birth (n=73 291) (Pediatrics Digest as cited in Lisa et al., 2005). Case subjects (n=393) were defined as children for whom an ASD diagnosis, i.e., Asperger’s syndrome or pervasive development disorder were recorded in KP outpatients clinical databases at any time between January 1995 and December 1998†¦All the children were between the 4 and 7 years old at the time the database was  scanned. 5 control subjects per case subject, were randomly selected from the cohort of children who did not have the diagnosis of ASD recorded in the clinical database.