Awareness of health care workers about Autism at family medicine centers in Cairo (original) (raw)
2018, QJM: An International Journal of Medicine
Background: Autism is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. Poor knowledge about childhood autism among care providers could delay early recognition and interventions that could negatively affect prognosis. Objective: was to assess and compare knowledge of health care workers in family medicine centers about Autism and to determine the factors that may have influenced such knowledge. Methods: A Cross sectional study was carried out in three family medicine centers in Cairo on 110 participants) 67 physicians and 43 nurses (. Data was collected using an Arabic self-administered modified version of KCAHW (Knowledge about childhood autism among health workers)Questionnaire for general socio-demographic information and autism symptoms, signs, etiological factors and treatment modalities Results: The study included family physicians(30.9%), General practitioners(GPs)(27.3%), pediatricians (2.7%)and nurses (39%), the mean age of the participants was 35.8 6 8.21, with varying years of practice(1-35) years, mean knowledge score was (8.41 6 2.34), (8.53 6 2.54),(10.00 6 1.73) and (4.21 6 2.49) respectively. The knowledge score showed significant positive correlation among GPs with age and years of practice.The most significant association was found between dealing with autistic child and knowledge score among nurses. Conclusion: Although, the current study showed that low level of knowledge among primary care workers about autism pediatricians have highest knowledge score followed by family physicians and GPs. Recommendations: Increase awareness of primary health care providers and nurses towards autism through implementation of educational programs and screening of all children with standardized developmental tools at vaccination sessions (at the 9-18-24-30 months) for early detection of ASD.
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