TY - JOUR
T1 - Vitamin/mineral/micronutrient supplement for autism spectrum disorders
T2 - a research survey
AU - Adams, James B.
AU - Kirby, Jasmine
AU - Audhya, Tapan
AU - Whiteley, Paul
AU - Bain, Jaclyn
N1 - Funding Information:
JBA is the President of the non-profit ANRC, serving as a volunteer without any salary or royalties to minimize conflict of interest. He has received research grants from ANRC. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
The study was primarily funded by the Autism Research Institute, with funds from the annual Zoowalk fundraiser. The Autism Nutrition Research Center (ANRC) provided compensation to participants in the form of a 50% discount on their next purchase in return for completing the survey.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: Vitamin and mineral supplements are widely used by children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Several studies have reported benefits of such supplements in resolving nutritional deficiencies, treating various metabolic problems and improving symptoms and overall quality of life. Methods: This research survey collected evaluations from 161 people about the effectiveness of ANRC-Essentials Plus (ANRC-EP), a vitamin/mineral/micronutrient supplement designed for children and adults with autism. Although this was an open-label survey, results were compared with a three-month randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of an earlier version of the supplement. Evaluations included the Parent Global Impressions of Autism (PGIA) and the Overall Benefit/Adverse Effect scale of the National Survey on Treatment Effectiveness for Autism (NSTEA). Results: The participants reported substantially higher Average PGIA Scores than the placebo group in a similar previous study, with an estimated effect size of 0.66. Based on the NSTEA questionnaire, 73% of participants rated the Overall Benefit as Moderate, Good, or Great, with scores that were substantially higher than the NSTEA study found for multi-vitamins, the average of 58 nutraceuticals, and the average of 28 psychiatric and seizure medications. The Overall Adverse Effect score was low (0.25/3.0), similar or slightly higher than other nutraceuticals, and much lower than the average of 28 psychiatric and seizure medications (0.9/3.0). Sub-analysis found that the Overall Benefit of ANRC-EP was not significantly affected by gender, age, autism severity, diet quality, self-limited diet, use of psychiatric or seizure medications, dosage, developmental history, intellectual disability, or seizures. This indicates that ANRC-EP may be beneficial for a wide range of children and adults with ASD. A limitation of this study is the retrospective nature of the survey, and that participants who had good benefits were more likely to respond. Conclusions: This study found that ANRC-EP had significant benefits for a wide range of symptoms, and low adverse effects.
AB - Background: Vitamin and mineral supplements are widely used by children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Several studies have reported benefits of such supplements in resolving nutritional deficiencies, treating various metabolic problems and improving symptoms and overall quality of life. Methods: This research survey collected evaluations from 161 people about the effectiveness of ANRC-Essentials Plus (ANRC-EP), a vitamin/mineral/micronutrient supplement designed for children and adults with autism. Although this was an open-label survey, results were compared with a three-month randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of an earlier version of the supplement. Evaluations included the Parent Global Impressions of Autism (PGIA) and the Overall Benefit/Adverse Effect scale of the National Survey on Treatment Effectiveness for Autism (NSTEA). Results: The participants reported substantially higher Average PGIA Scores than the placebo group in a similar previous study, with an estimated effect size of 0.66. Based on the NSTEA questionnaire, 73% of participants rated the Overall Benefit as Moderate, Good, or Great, with scores that were substantially higher than the NSTEA study found for multi-vitamins, the average of 58 nutraceuticals, and the average of 28 psychiatric and seizure medications. The Overall Adverse Effect score was low (0.25/3.0), similar or slightly higher than other nutraceuticals, and much lower than the average of 28 psychiatric and seizure medications (0.9/3.0). Sub-analysis found that the Overall Benefit of ANRC-EP was not significantly affected by gender, age, autism severity, diet quality, self-limited diet, use of psychiatric or seizure medications, dosage, developmental history, intellectual disability, or seizures. This indicates that ANRC-EP may be beneficial for a wide range of children and adults with ASD. A limitation of this study is the retrospective nature of the survey, and that participants who had good benefits were more likely to respond. Conclusions: This study found that ANRC-EP had significant benefits for a wide range of symptoms, and low adverse effects.
KW - Autism
KW - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
KW - Micronutrients
KW - Minerals
KW - Vitamins
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85139925898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12887-022-03628-0
DO - 10.1186/s12887-022-03628-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 36229781
AN - SCOPUS:85139925898
SN - 1471-2431
VL - 22
JO - BMC Pediatrics
JF - BMC Pediatrics
IS - 1
M1 - 590
ER -