Summary of unadjusted results comparing % rates (n) of ear, nose and throat signs at 30 months of children who later demonstrated high levels of autistic traits and of children diagnosed with autism contrasted with controls
| Signs and symptoms | Group | Social communication % (n) | Speech coherence % (n) | Sociability % (n) | Repetitive behaviour % (n) | Autism % (n) |
| Mouth breathing | Index | 27.2 (232) | 26.5 (169) | 24.5 (226) | 24.1 (489) | 30.3 (42) |
| Control | 19.1 (1119) | 19.8 (1145) | 20.8 (1524) | 19.0 (992) | 21.8 (1966) | |
| P value | *** | *** | * | *** | ** | |
| Snoring | Index | 25.4 (221) | 22.0 (150) | 20.9 (196) | 20.2 (417) | 31.0 (41) |
| Control | 16.0 (947) | 16.6 (967) | 17.4 (1283) | 16.1 (851) | 18.2 (1660) | |
| P value | *** | *** | ** | *** | *** | |
| Sleep apnoea | Index | 18.1 (148) | 18.4 (110) | 15.6 (143) | 17.4 (339) | 16.8 (21) |
| Control | 14.0 (802) | 13.9 (789) | 15.2 (1099) | 13.6 (705) | 15.5 (1387) | |
| P value | *** | *** | *** | |||
| Pulling at ears | Index | 8.2 (78) | 8.4 (60) | 6.8 (71) | 7.0 (157) | 16.2 (25) |
| Control | 4.1 (267) | 4.2 (268) | 4.4 (353) | 3.7 (213) | 4.6 (463) | |
| P value | *** | *** | ** | *** | *** | |
| Ears red and sore | Index | 21.0 (221) | 20.4 (139) | 18.0 (181) | 19.2 (418) | 26.5 (40) |
| Control | 13.0 (820) | 13.5 (841) | 14.6 (1150) | 12.1 (680) | 15.0 (1458) | |
| P value | *** | *** | ** | *** | *** | |
| Pus/mucus from ears | Index | 3.9 (37) | 5.1 (36) | 4.4 (46) | 4.0 (90) | 10.3 (16) |
| Control | 3.2 (207) | 3.0 (189) | 3.3 (263) | 3.1 (177) | 6.6 (349) | |
| P value | ** | *** | ||||
| Hearing worse during cold | Index | 21.5 (148) | 25.8 (133) | 16.5 (127) | 20.1 (319) | 37.9 (44) |
| Control | 14.1 (682) | 14.1 (673) | 15.6 (946) | 13.1 (574) | 15.2 (1136) | |
| P value | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||
| Rarely listens | Index | 4.6 (44) | 6.4 (45) | 5.1 (53) | 4.1 (91) | 14.4 (22) |
| Control | 1.6 (101) | 1.5 (95) | 1.7 (139) | 1.4 (80) | 2.1 (213) | |
| P value | *** | *** | *** | *** | *** |
*P<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.