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PREVELANCE AND RISK FACTORS RELATED TO AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER IN TODDLERS

. Rukhsar Fatima, Hafiz Usman Asad, Asim Raza and Farooq Islam


Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorder(ASD) is a neurodevelopmental impairment characterized by social isolation and a variety of cognitive abnormalities. There are 18.5 autism cases for every 1000 children of aged below eight years. Current study was carried out to determine the prevalence and risk factors of autism spectrum disorder in toddlers.

Methods: An observational cross sectional study was performed on 209 participants in district Gujrat and Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan. Non probability convenient sampling technique was used to select the parents of children of age 16 to 30 months. Information were collected from parents to their child between August to September, 2022 and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (MCHAT) questionnaire with Cronbach’s α =0.85 was used to assess the risk of autism spectrum disorder. Data analyses were completed through SPSS. All results were calculated at 95% confidence interval.

Result: Out of total n=209, 170 (81.34%), 30 (14.35%) and 9(4.31%) children had low, moderate and high risk of autism spectrum disorder respectively. According to the survey 184(59.3%) participants belong to the rural area. There was found significant association between premature and autism spectrum disorder with p value<0.05. Positive correlation was observed between the complications related to conception and autism spectrum disorder.

Conclusion: On the basis of finding, low prevalence was found with high risk of autism spectrum disorder this study population. Premature births and complication related to conception increased the risk of autism.

Keywords: Prevalence, autism, risk factor, cross sectional study

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