Family Physicians' Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from a Survey Study

Authors

  • Mengühan Araz Altay Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Trakya University School of Medicine, Edirne 22030, Turkey

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.199

Keywords:

Autism spectrum disorder, Autism awareness, Family physicians, Autism, Neurodevelopmental disorder

Abstract

AIM: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children. Family physicians with the first medical contact of children are among the most frequent physicians with ASD. We aimed to investigate family physicians' awareness of ASD.

METHODS: This study was carried out family physicians in between September 25-October 15, 2018. The questionnaire form on autism awareness prepared by the researcher was delivered to family physicians electronically and in printed form, and it was filled out by volunteers.

RESULTS: Forty-eight family physicians with an average professional experience of 16.9 ± 8.8 years participated in the study. A group of 66.7% of the participants had not previously received education on ASD, and 70.8% of them did not refer any child to child psychiatry with suspected ASD in the last 6 months. The participants stated that the most common clinical features in children with ASD were the inability to make eye contact (72.9%) and repetitive movements (47.9%), and 56.3% of them stated one or more features that are not observed in ASD. The compliance of the participants' answers about the clinical features observed in children with ASD with the DSM-5 criteria was determined to be 54.6 ± 18.4%. Significantly higher compliance rates were observed in the participants with education on autism and those working as a physician below 15 years.

CONCLUSION: In our study, family physicians' awareness of ASD was not found to be adequate. Education programs on autism awareness should be applied to family physicians who are probably the most frequently encountered physicians by children with ASD.

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Published

2019-03-17

How to Cite

1.
Altay MA. Family Physicians’ Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from a Survey Study. Open Access Maced J Med Sci [Internet]. 2019 Mar. 17 [cited 2024 Mar. 28];7(6):967-72. Available from: https://oamjms.eu/index.php/mjms/article/view/oamjms.2019.199

Issue

Section

B - Clinical Sciences

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