Knowledge and Attitudes toward Autism Spectrum Disorder in Saudi Arabia.

Int J Environ Res Public Health

Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Najran University, Najran 66262, Saudi Arabia.

Published: March 2022

Aims: The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not easy as there is no direct test that exists to establish such a diagnosis. Increasing community and healthcare professional knowledge of the ASD spectrum is crucial because it will encourage parents of ASD children to seek screening and diagnosis from a specialist, allowing for better early detection and treatment. This study explored the knowledge of the general population in Saudi Arabia regarding ASD and assessed variables associated with an accurate understanding of ASD.

Methods: A total of 769 participants were involved in this cross-sectional study, which was conducted in Saudi Arabia between November 2021 and February 2022 using an online survey tool to explore the knowledge of the general population in Saudi Arabia regarding typical child development and ASD. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors affecting participants' knowledge of autism.

Results: Overall, the study participants showed a weak level of knowledge about autism with a mean score of 5.9 (SD: 3.1), comprising 34.7% of the total maximum obtainable score. Participants with a middle income category of 5000-7500 SR are less likely to be knowledgeable about autism compared to others (OR: 0.60 (95% CI: 0.39-0.92)) (-value = 0.020).

Conclusion: The participants in our study showed limited knowledge about autism. Government funds should be made available to facilitate educational services for ASD children. More funding and resources should be allocated by the government to provide assistance for children with special needs, and changes in public facilities are required to meet the demands of ASD patients. Through an informed educational effort, various media platforms should assist in improving the community's understanding of ASD and their attitude toward ASD patients. Educational campaigns should focus on enhancing the public's knowledge about ASD treatment and etiology.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8950846PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063648DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

saudi arabia
16
asd
10
knowledge
8
autism spectrum
8
spectrum disorder
8
knowledge asd
8
asd children
8
knowledge general
8
general population
8
population saudi
8

Similar Publications

Processed and ultra-processed foods are associated with depression and anxiety symptoms in a cross-sectional sample of urban Lebanese adults.

Nutr Res

December 2024

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon; Faculty of Medicine, Clinical Research Institute, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

While low dietary quality has been linked to poor mental health, evidence on more direct relations of specific dietary quality indicators, namely degrees of food processing, with mental health disorders remains limited. This study aims to investigate the association between food groups' intakes, defined based on their degree of food processing, with depression and anxiety symptoms in a sample of Lebanese adults. We hypothesized that higher intakes of ultra-processed foods (UPF) will be related to higher risk of depression and anxiety while an opposite association will be observed for unprocessed or minimally processed foods (MPF).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Updates in lung isolation techniques.

Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol

March 2024

Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, Anesthesiology Department, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia Unit, Department of Anaesthesia, Surgical Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansour, Egypt. Electronic address:

Innovations and challenges for lung separation or isolation have evolved during the last few years. In this chapter, we present the up-to-date, robust evidence available during the previous five years supporting the positions of the different devices, techniques, and tricks for their use in adult and pediatric patients undergoing various thoracic surgical interventions. Additionally, we presented an update on lung isolation in patients with airway difficulty and the suggested training level to master these techniques.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

No evidence that breast cancer occurs at higher rates among young Arab women.

East Mediterr Health J

December 2024

Department of Radiology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Breast cancer is often thought to occur at a younger age among Arab women based on the mean or median age at diagnosis, or the proportion of women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age.

Objective: To compare age-specific breast cancer incidence rates among women from selected Arab countries with selected high- and middle-income countries.

Methods: We examined population-based, age-specific, national or regional breast cancer incidence data for 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States of America, and compared them with data from Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Using -rhizobia- interaction networks, we address first the soil invasion success of , and second, we report either -rhizobia partnership should form an isolated module within the symbiosis interaction network. Different indexes were used to determine model invasion success and the network topology. Our results indicated that invasion decreased soil microbial biomass, basal respiration, and enzymatic activities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) is a minimally invasive surgical approach. Initially utilized for low-risk procedures, such as the resection of benign lesions, now LLR has evolved to include more complex operations such as metastatic lesions. We present in this article two cases with liver metastasis who underwent a successful two-stage total LLR: a 57-year-old man diagnosed with sigmoid cancer and liver metastasis and a 36-year-old man diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and liver metastasis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!