Review: existing epidemiological evidence does not show an association between mumps, measles, and rubella vaccination and autism
Q (1) Are rates of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) higher in children who have received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine than in those who have not? (2) Have ASD rates increased as a result of MMR vaccination? (3) Is time of development of ASD associated with time of MMR vaccination? (4) Is a new variant form of ASD associated with MMR vaccination?
METHODS
Data sources:
Biological Abstracts (1990–2002), CINAHL (1982 to Feb 2003), Cochrane Library (to end of 2002), EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (1982 to week 6, 2003), HealthSTAR (1975–2002), Medline (1966 to Jan 2003), PreMedline (to Jan 2003), PsycINFO (1872 to Jan 2003), and TOXLINE (1966 to Jan 2003); bibliographies of reviews; and authors of published studies.
Study selection and assessment:
original epidemiological studies in any language that used a systematic method of identifying a sample, described methods for diagnosing ASD, and attempted to determine if an …
