Calcium and Vitamin D Supplement Prescribing Practices among Providers Caring for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Are We Addressing Bone Health?

Table 1

Clinical characteristics of children on the GFCF diet versus those not on a GFCF diet.

	Gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet	Non-GFCF diet	value
Mean age in years (SD)	9.62 (4.66)	11.7 (4.66)	0.069
Sex (% male)	74	78	0.644
Self-reported ethnicity (%)	Non-Hispanic White: 66	Non-Hispanic White: 62	0.378
	Hispanic: 2	Hispanic: 10
	African American: 4	African American: 4
	Asian: 16	Asian: 4
	Other: 12	Other: 20
% on vitamin D supplements	52	18	<0.001
% on calcium supplements	46	14	<0.001
% with documented 25(OH)D level	24	0	0.001
Mean 25(OH)D level in ng/mL (SD)	41.4 (11.4)	N/A	N/A
% with documented phosphorus level	16	2	0.013
Mean phosphorus level in mg/dL (SD)	5.4 (1.0)	3.05 (0.5)	0.062
% on antiepileptic drugs	14	22	0.303
% on antipsychotics	14	28	0.087
% on antidepressants	18	32	0.108
% on proton pump inhibitors	30	8	0.002