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Table 1 Characteristics of the included studies

From: Migration modulates the prevalence of ASD and ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis

First author (year)

Country

Design

No. participants

Definition and type of migration

Original area or country

Outcome

Outcome assessment

Effect indicator

NOS score

Risk of ASD

 Croen et al. (2002) [42]

U.S.

Cohort

3,551,306

Maternal country of birth

California

Other U.S. state

Mexico

Other

Autism

DSM-III-R and IV

RR

9

 Hultman et al. (2002) [43]

Sweden

Nested case-control

Case: 408

Control: 2040

Maternal country of birth

Nordic

Europe and North America Outside Europe and North America

Infantile autism

ICD-9

OR

7

 Lauritsen et al. (2005) [44]

Denmark

Cohort

943,664

Maternal country of birth

Denmark

Scandinavia and Europe (except Denmark)

Outside Europe

Childhood autism or atypical autism

ICD-10

RR

9

 Maimburg et al. (2006) [23]

Denmark

Case-control

Case: 473

Control: 4730

Parent with foreign citizenship

Infantile autism

ICD-8 and ICD-10

OR

7

 Williams et al. (2008) [45]

Australia

Case-control

Case: 182

Control: 85,685

Maternal country of birth

Autistic disorder

DSM-IV

OR

6

 Keen et al. (2010) [46]

U.K.

Cohort

Lambeth: 137 cases

Wandsworth: 258 cases

Maternal region of birth

U.K.

Other Europe

Africa

Caribbean

Asia

Elsewhere

ASD

ICD-10

RR

7

 Haglund et al. (2011) [47]

Sweden

Case-control

Case:157 (autism)

93 (Asperger)

Control: 68,964

Maternal country of birth

Autism or Asperger’s syndrome

DSM-III and IV, ICD-10, and Gillberg criteria.

OR

7

 Magnusson et al. (2012) [24]

Sweden

Nested case-control study

Case: 3918

Control: 40,045

Parental country of birth

Sweden

Northern Africa

Eastern Africa

Other African

Northern America

Latin America/Caribbean

Southern Asia

Western Asia

Other Asian

Northern Europe

Eastern Europe

Southern Europe

Western Europe

ASD, ASD comorbid intellectual disability or not

Structured diagnostic assessments. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Snijders-Oomen Non-Verbal Intelligence Test (Revised), and Leiter

OR

8

 Lehti et al. (2013) [18]

Finland

Nested case-control study

Case: 1132

Control: 4515

Parental country of birth

Finnish

Western countries

Former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia

Sub-Saharan Africa

North Africa, Middle East

Asia

Autism

ICD-9 and ICD-10

OR

8

 Singh et al. (2013) [48]

U.S.

Cross-sectional

91,532

Children with one or both immigrant parents (born outside the U.S.)

U.S.-born non-Hispanic white children

Hispanic immigrant children

Non-Hispanic white immigrant children

Non-Hispanic black immigrant children

Asian immigrant children

Other immigrant children

ASD, ADHD

Question based

OR

7

 van der Ven et al. (2013) [22]

Netherlands

Cohort

106,953

Paternal country of birth

Netherlands

Developing countries

Turkey

Morocco

Suriname and Dutch Antilles

Other

Developed countries

ASD, autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS)

DSM-IV

RR

8

 Becerra et al. (2014) [49]

U.S.

Cohort

1,626,354

Parental country of birth

U.S.-born

Foreign-born

Autistic disorder and Autistic disorder comorbid intellectual disability

DSM- IV-R and ICD-9-CM

as reported on the DDS Client Development Evaluation Report (CDER).

RR

9

 Abdullahi et al. (2019) [41]

Australia

Cohort

765,064

Maternal country of birth

Australian-born mothers

Foreign-born mothers from low-income countries

Foreign-born mothers from lower-middle-income countries

Foreign-born mothers from upper-middle-income countries

Foreign-born mothers from high-income countries

ASD with/without intellectual disability

NR

RR

7

Risk of ADHD

 Huss et al. (2008) [28]

German

Cross-sectional

17,461

Children with migration history

ADHD and potential ADHD

ICD-10 and DSM-IV

OR

7

 Lehti et al. (2016) [29]

Finland

Nested case-control study

Case: 10,409

Control: 39,124

Immigrant parents were defined as those who were born abroad and not native Finnish speakers.

Finland

Western countries

Former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia

Sub-Saharan Africa

North Africa, Middle East Asia

Latin America

ADHD

ICD-9 and ICD-10

OR

9

 Cotter et al. (2019) [50]

Ireland

Cohort

8568

Children without Ireland citizenship

Hyperactivity

SDQ

OR

6

 Osooli et al. (2021) [19]

Sweden

Cohort

2,707,976

First-generation migrant children were born abord, second-generation migrant children were born in Sweden with foreign-born parents

Finland

Other Scandinavian countries

Eastern Europe

West, Central, and South Europe

East Asia and the Pacific

Central-South Asia

Middle East and North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

North America

Latin America and the Caribbean

ADHD

DSM-V and ICD-10

HR

9

Hyperactive score (SDQ)

 Leavey et al. (2004) [51]

U.K.

Cross-sectional

Case: 206

Control: 123

Children foreign born

U.K.-born

Foreign born

Hyperactivity score

SDQ self-report version

Mean (SD)

6

 Derluyn et al. (2007) [25]

Belgium

Case-control

Case: 1219

Control: 607

Migrant status

Non-migrant adolescents

Migrant adolescents

Hyperactivity score

SDQ self-report version

Mean (SD)

7

 Holling et al. (2008) [52]

German

Cross-sectional

Case: 2349

Control: 12,460

Children with one or both immigrant parents (born outside the Germany)

Hyperactivity score

SDQ parent version

Mean (SD)

7

 Sagatun et al. (2008) [26]

Norway

Cohort

2455

Parental country of birth

Hyperactivity score

SDQ self-report version

Mean (SD)

6

 Alonso-Fernandez et al. (2017) [27]

Spain

Case-control

Case: 415

Control: 830

The subjects chose the “foreigner” option as an answer to the question “What is the nationality of …?”

Hyperactivity score

SDQ

Mean (SD)

7

 McMahon et al. (2017) [53]

Austria Estonia France Germany Hungary Ireland Italy Romania Slovenia Spain

Cross-sectional

Case:1900

Control: 9018

First-generation migrant children were born aboard, second-generation migrant children were domestically born with foreign-born parents

Non-migrants

First-generation migrants (European origin)

Second-generation (European origin)

First-generation migrants (non-European origin)

Second-generation (non-European origin)

Hyperactivity score

SDQ self-report version

Mean (SD)

8

  1. Abbreviations: ADHD Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ASD Autism spectrum disorder, CI Confidence interval, DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, HR Hazard ratio, ICD International Classification of Diseases, NOS Newcastle–Ottawa scale, NR Not report, OR Odds ratio, RR Risk ratio, SD Standard deviation, SDQ Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire