Knowledge levels of mothers with children aged 0-6 about autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, it was aimed to measure the level of knowledge about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in mothers of children aged 0-6 and to determine the necessity of informative studies on this subject and the characteristics of the group that should be focused on in future studies.

Methods: The population of the study consisted of mothers with children aged 0-6 years who applied to the pediatric outpatient clinic. In order to measure ASD knowledge, 24 questions were created by scanning the literature.

Results: 388 mothers were included in the study. There was a significant difference in educational status regarding ASD knowledge score (p = 0.042). There was a significant difference between economic status in terms of ASD knowledge score (p = 0.026). Those who had heard of ASD had a significantly higher ASD knowledge score than those who had not heard of ASD (p < 0.001). The ASD knowledge score of those who had acquaintances with ASD was significantly higher than those who had not (p = 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between ASD total score, age, and first gestational age.

Conclusions: Increasing the level of knowledge about ASD will enable early diagnosis and early intervention in the course of the disease and the rapid integration of individuals with ASD into society.

Keywords

• Autism spectrum disorder
• awareness
• early diagnosis

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