A STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER AMONG ADULT PATIENTS ATTENDING KLINIK KESIHATAN LUYANG
Keywords:
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Knowledge, StigmaAbstract
The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been on the rise in recent years. However, lack of ASD awareness can lead to delay in diagnosis and treatment as well as stigma towards autistic individuals. Therefore, it is paramount to assess the public’s knowledge and attitude towards ASD. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Klinik Kesihatan Luyang from December 2018 to February 2019 using a self-administered questionnaire that comprised of 3 sections; sociodemographic section, Autism Stigma and Knowledge questionnaire (ASK-Q) and attitude towards ASD. There were 387 respondents who participated in this study and 25.3% of them had never heard of ASD. Among those who had heard of ASD, the mean (SD) score for ASK-Q was 35.0 (3.8) with more than 70% of them had adequate knowledge on diagnosis, aetiology and treatment of ASD. Majority of the respondents did not endorse stigma. The main sources of ASD information were from social media (69.8%) and TV/Radio (52.5%). Generally, respondents showed a high positive attitude towards ASD with a mean (SD) score of 36.0 (5.1). There were positive associations between knowledge on treatment and education level (p=0.02) and household monthly income (p=0.01) as well as knowledge on aetiology and household monthly income (p=0.03). Parenthood was associated with higher knowledge on aetiology (p=0.02) and lesser stigma endorsement (p=0.02). Males demonstrated more positive attitude compared to females (p=0.03). There was weak correlation between knowledge and attitude towards ASD (r=0.145, p=0.014). In conclusion, there is still a need for intervention to improve ASD awareness especially among the lower education and lower income population as well as those who had no parenthood experience, using effective channels of mass media.
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