Impact of chronic intranasal oxytocin administration on face expression processing in autistic children: a randomized controlled trial using fMRI

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the trial participants at baseline

Measures	Autism (n = 58)	No autism (n = 38)	P-value^a	Autism-oxytocin (n = 20)	Autism-placebo (n = 24)	P-value^a
♂:♀	46:12	30:8	0.99	18:2	21:3	0.95
Age^b (mean ± SD)	9.93 ± 1.26	9.79 ± 1.28	0.59	10.20 ± 1.36	9.88 ± 1.26	0.47
VIQ^c (mean ± SD)	108.78 ± 12.24	117.76 ± 15.22	< 0.01*	104.25 ± 16.05	111.61 ± 16.61	0.15
PIQ^d (mean ± SD)	104.40 ± 13.77	107.76 ± 12.46	0.22	101.60 ± 13.47	103.43 ± 12.01	0.64
SRS-2^e (mean ± SD)	88.66 ± 20.97	21.03 ± 12.27	< 0.001*	88.65 ± 22.53	85.63 ± 20.78	0.65
ADOS-2^f (mean ± SD)	–	–	–	9.22 ± 3.41	9.16 ± 4.13	0.96

^aP-values based on independent, two-sample t-tests or Chi-square tests
^bAge expressed in years
^cVerbal Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was derived from the subtests Similarities and Vocabulary, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition, Dutch version (WISC-V-NL [86])
^dPerformance IQ was derived from the subtests Block Design and Figure Puzzles (WISC-V-NL [86])
^eSocial Responsiveness Scale-Children, 2nd edition (SRS-2 [21])
^fPrior to randomization, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd edition (ADOS-2 [60]) was administered in the autism group
^*Significant difference at p < 0.05 statistical threshold

ISSN: 2040-2392