Parallel paths: A narrative review exploring autism and its co-occurring conditions

Figure 4 Forest plot of relative risks and 95%CIs for metabolic and cardiovascular conditions among autistic patients compared to neurotypical controls. The plot presents pooled relative risk (RRs) from meta-analyses across multiple studies for various conditions: Diabetes overall, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke. Blue points indicate significant associations (P < 0.05), where the 95%CI does not cross the line of no effect (RR = 1), suggesting a higher risk of the condition in autistic individuals compared to controls. Red points represent non-significant results (P ≥ 0.05), where the 95%CI crosses the RR = 1 line, indicating no statistically significant difference in risk between autism and controls. The vertical dashed line at RR = 1 serves as a reference, representing no increased or decreased risk. Conditions such as type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia show a notably higher risk in autism, while the risk differences for hypertension and stroke are not statistically significant.