Protocol for a systematic evidence map of environmental research related to autism spectrum disorders: the aWARE project

IF 9.7 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environment International Pub Date : 2025-10-09 DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109839

Anisha Singh, Johanna R. Rochester, Robyn Blain, Vickie R. Walker, Katherine E. Pelch, Anthony Hannani, Jeremy Frye, Cindy P. Lawler, Astrid C. Haugen, Amanda E. Garton, Andrew A. Rooney

{"title":"Protocol for a systematic evidence map of environmental research related to autism spectrum disorders: the aWARE project","authors":"Anisha Singh, Johanna R. Rochester, Robyn Blain, Vickie R. Walker, Katherine E. Pelch, Anthony Hannani, Jeremy Frye, Cindy P. Lawler, Astrid C. Haugen, Amanda E. Garton, Andrew A. Rooney","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109839","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Introduction</h3>Emerging data supporting the potential contribution of environmental chemical exposures to the etiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) led to increased interest, research, and publications. This diverse and rapidly growing body of evidence covers a range of study designs, environmental exposures, and ASD-related outcomes. The amount and complexity of research present barriers to identifying, characterizing, and synthesizing relevant evidence to better understand potential associations. The objective of this protocol is to describe a systematic evidence map (SEM) method for identifying and characterizing published scientific research on early-life environmental chemical and physical exposures and ASD or ASD-related outcomes into an interactive resource called aWARE − a Web-based tool for Autism Research and the Environment.<h3>Methods</h3>A comprehensive search for ASD-related studies will be conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, without limits on publication year or language. Eligibility criteria focused on early-life environmental exposure will guide the selection of relevant articles using DistillerSR® and study characteristics will be extracted using DEXTR, a web-based semi-automated data extraction software. Studies will be categorized based on key concepts including major categories of exposure (e.g., air pollution), evidence stream (human, experimental animal), study design, and ASD outcomes, and visualized as SEMs in aWARE a queryable and interactive database created using Tableau. Input from the autism community will be used to guide the scope of this project and format of the SEMs to increase the utility of the tool. The results of the SEMs will also be summarized in a brief narrative format.<h3>Conclusion</h3>This protocol reports pre-specified SEM methods for developing the aWARE tool on ASD and environmental exposures including outreach to the autism community for important input. The resulting project will advance ASD research with the protocol ensuring transparency and replicability.","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environment International","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109839","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

Emerging data supporting the potential contribution of environmental chemical exposures to the etiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) led to increased interest, research, and publications. This diverse and rapidly growing body of evidence covers a range of study designs, environmental exposures, and ASD-related outcomes. The amount and complexity of research present barriers to identifying, characterizing, and synthesizing relevant evidence to better understand potential associations. The objective of this protocol is to describe a systematic evidence map (SEM) method for identifying and characterizing published scientific research on early-life environmental chemical and physical exposures and ASD or ASD-related outcomes into an interactive resource called aWARE − a Web-based tool for Autism Research and the Environment.

Methods

A comprehensive search for ASD-related studies will be conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, without limits on publication year or language. Eligibility criteria focused on early-life environmental exposure will guide the selection of relevant articles using DistillerSR® and study characteristics will be extracted using DEXTR, a web-based semi-automated data extraction software. Studies will be categorized based on key concepts including major categories of exposure (e.g., air pollution), evidence stream (human, experimental animal), study design, and ASD outcomes, and visualized as SEMs in aWARE a queryable and interactive database created using Tableau. Input from the autism community will be used to guide the scope of this project and format of the SEMs to increase the utility of the tool. The results of the SEMs will also be summarized in a brief narrative format.

Conclusion

This protocol reports pre-specified SEM methods for developing the aWARE tool on ASD and environmental exposures including outreach to the autism community for important input. The resulting project will advance ASD research with the protocol ensuring transparency and replicability.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

与自闭症谱系障碍有关的环境研究的系统证据图方案：aWARE项目

新出现的数据支持环境化学品暴露对自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）病因的潜在贡献，这引起了人们的兴趣、研究和出版物的增加。这些多样且快速增长的证据涵盖了一系列研究设计、环境暴露和自闭症相关结果。研究的数量和复杂性给识别、描述和综合相关证据以更好地理解潜在关联带来了障碍。本协议的目标是描述一种系统的证据图（SEM）方法，用于识别和描述已发表的关于生命早期环境化学和物理暴露与ASD或ASD相关结果的科学研究，并将其纳入一个名为aWARE的交互式资源-自闭症研究和环境的基于网络的工具。方法在PubMed、Web of Science和Scopus中全面检索asd相关研究，不受发表年份和语言的限制。关注早期生活环境暴露的资格标准将指导使用DistillerSR®选择相关文章，研究特征将使用DEXTR提取，DEXTR是一种基于网络的半自动数据提取软件。研究将根据关键概念进行分类，包括暴露的主要类别（如空气污染），证据流（人类，实验动物），研究设计和ASD结果，并在aWARE中可视化为sem， aWARE是一个使用Tableau创建的可查询和交互式数据库。来自自闭症社区的意见将用于指导本项目的范围和sme的格式，以增加工具的效用。中小企业管理机制的结果也将以简短的叙述形式进行总结。本协议报告了预先指定的SEM方法，用于开发ASD和环境暴露的aWARE工具，包括向自闭症社区提供重要输入。由此产生的项目将在确保透明度和可复制性的协议下推进自闭症谱系障碍研究。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Environment International 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

21.90

自引率

3.40%

发文量

734

审稿时长

2.8 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Health publishes manuscripts focusing on critical aspects of environmental and occupational medicine, including studies in toxicology and epidemiology, to illuminate the human health implications of exposure to environmental hazards. The journal adopts an open-access model and practices open peer review. It caters to scientists and practitioners across all environmental science domains, directly or indirectly impacting human health and well-being. With a commitment to enhancing the prevention of environmentally-related health risks, Environmental Health serves as a public health journal for the community and scientists engaged in matters of public health significance concerning the environment.