Knowledge Level and Awareness of Parents with 18-36 Month-Old Children About Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Introduction: Early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) enables early treatment, which is a good prognostic factor for the disorder. Parents are the primary caregivers; their knowledge about ASD is crucial for early diagnosis.We aimed to examine the level of knowledge and awareness about ASD in parents and their relationship with individual factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between February and July 2020 in a family health center with 340 parents with children aged 18-36 months. Participants were evaluated with a questionnaire adapted from the M-CHAT scale and DSM-V diagnostic criteria, including their sociodemographic characteristics. Results: 97.6% of the parents had heard of ASD before. In 32.6% parents the source of hearing autism was the media. Only 32.6% knew the right time for meaningful word production in healthy children. ASD knowledge level was higher in mothers and parents with higher education levels (p = 0.001, p <0.001). 5.6% of the parents stated that vaccines cause ASD and 37.6% stated that they did not have information about whether vaccines cause ASD. Conclusion: In our study, we found that although almost all of the parents had heard of ASD before, most of them had a low level of knowledge about the language development process of a healthy child and the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment process of ASD. More importantly, many of these parents with a young child were unaware of whether there was a relationship between vaccines and ASD.

Keywords

• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Awareness
• Knowledge
• Family Physician

18-36 Aylık Çocukları Olan Ebeveynlerin Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu Hakkında Bilgi Düzeyleri ve Farkındalıkları

Abstract

Giriş: Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğunun (OSB) erken teşhisi, hastalık için iyi bir prognostic factor olan erken tedaviyi sağlar. Birincil bakıcılar olan ebeveynlerin OSB hakkındaki bilgi düzeyleri erken tanı için önemlidir. Ebeveynlerin OSB ile ilgili bilgi ve farkındalık düzeylerini ve bireysel faktörlerle ilişkisini incelemeyi amaçladık. Yöntem: Bu kesitsel çalışma Şubat-Temmuz 2020 tarihleri arasında aile sağlığı merkezinde, 18-36 aylık çocukları olan 340 ebeveyn ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Katılımcılar sosyodemografik özelliklerini de içeren M-CHAT ölçeği ve DSM-V tanı kriterlerinden uyarlanan bir anket ile değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Ebeveynlerin %97,6'sı OSB’yi daha önce duymuştu. Ebeveynlerin %32,6'sında otizmi işitme kaynağı medyaydı. Sağlıklı çocuklarda anlamlı kelime üretimi için doğru zamanı sadece %32,6'sı biliyordu. OSB bilgi düzeyi annelerde ve eğitim düzeyi yüksek ebeveynlerde daha yüksekti (p = 0,001, p <0,001). Ebeveynlerin %5,6'sı aşıların OSB'ye neden olduğunu ve %37,6'sı aşıların OSB'ye neden olup olmadığı konusunda bilgiye sahip olmadıklarını belirtmiştir. Sonuç: Çalışmamızda ebeveynlerin nerdeyse hepsinin OSB’ yi daha önceden duymuş olsa da birçoğunun sağlıklı bir çocuğun dil gelişim süreci ve OSB'nin semptomları, nedenleri, tanı ve tedavi süreci hakkındaki bilgi düzeyinin düşük olduğunu gördük. Küçük bir çocuğu olan bu ebeveynlerin birçoğunun aşılar ve OSB arasında bir ilişki olup olmadığı konusunda bilgi sahibi değildi.

Keywords

• Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu
• Farkındalık
• Bilgi
• Aile Hekimi

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