People with autism spectrum disorder are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers without the condition, a population study suggests.

Australian-led researchers examined Danish population and registry data covering more than 6.5 million people aged 10 years and over (spanning 1995-2016), more than 35,000 of whom had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Those with ASD had a more than three-fold higher risk of attempting suicide than those without the disorder, the analysis showed, after adjustment for sex, age and time period.

Women and girls with autism were particularly at risk, being 4.4 times more likely to attempt to kill themselves than men and boys with the condition.