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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/447210?mpid=8185&WebLogicSession=PiJCupFY3nAHTNQJ894QXh70NJNT1HoLMaUreYO3sZPBoJ7X5wXv|-3187479210617775883/184161392/6/7001/7001/7002/7002/7001/-1

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 31 - Since all the publicity of a possible association between measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and autism, parents of autistic children tend to recall the onset of regressive symptoms as coinciding with MMR vaccination, UK researchers report.

Dr. E. Miller from the Public Health Laboratory Service, London, and colleagues compared the relative incidence of autism in relation to MMR vaccination in two studies--one from 1998 and one in 2000--based on data for the same five districts.

In the 1998 study there were 86 cases in which regression occurred between 0 to 50 months of age, and 285 cases based on parental concern at the same age range. From the 2000 study the corresponding number of cases were 26 and 95, respectively, the researchers found.

Dr. Miller's team found that compared with the 1998 study the relative incidence estimates were greater in the 2000 study, although these differences were not significant, according to their report in the December issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Dr. Miller and colleagues conclude that "the results of this study are consistent with the existence of parental recall bias when reporting the onset of regression in relation to the MMR immunization in children with autism."

They add that "the potential for bias needs to be considered in any study reliant on clinical histories obtained after a hypothesis has been publicized. This may be in the form of a recall bias or biased reporting of cases fitting the hypothesis and may lead to false conclusions. Although the differences in relative incidence estimates pre and post the hypothesis was not significant, this paper highlights the possibility that such a bias could affect future studies."

Arch Dis Child 2002;87:493-494.

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